Thursday 20 August 2020

Campuses-Now and then

 

Nearly 40-45 years back, sometimes students and teachers protested or went on strike. They were always afraid of police or authorities. Times have changed. A few months back, the nation saw a protest by a few hundred people at Shaheen Bagh near Jamia Milia University but police and the authorities were afraid to act.

Were they students or teachers? No, they were dons, most of them wearing designer and branded clothes and using expensive devices but enjoying highly subsidized education. They were demanding the withdrawal of CAA/NRC Acts, passed by the Parliament. Moreover, the highest court of the land also refused to stay the bill.

Placards, held high. Volatile slogans rose. Students forced to boycott the classes, and there were hardly any studies while their dharna (sit-in) was going on. This incident was enough to give a snapshot of the working of our universities over the past 40 fears. To a point unimaginable in the eighties, they become a safe citadel of Left-wingers, Islamists and other newly emerged caste extremist groups in the name of social justice.

This is a tremendous change. Nearly four decades back, less than 5 percent of school pass-out went to universities. Now, almost more than 50 percent of youth attend institutions of higher studies. So the cultural brainwashing is going on and there are noteworthy sequences for our society and nation.

The idea of growing higher education which was initiated by Late Mrs.Indira Gandhi and spread by Dr, Man Mohan Singh was a noble idea, offering opportunities to maximum citizens which had earlier been the monopoly of a few people.

Now, they are demanding every benefit without any merit. They are disgruntled with everything. This was not seen earlier that these fast-growing institutions are in the grip of Leftist dons, who lure the youth with unworkable ideas. Most of these ideologies are not teaching academics and of doubtful merit.

An insight into the nature of our activists turned academicians was provided by the letters and signature campaign by academics to the government and media. Most of the subjects and topics have neither to do anything with education nor with academics and universities. Even they defend the terrorists, rioters and hate elements.

These disgruntled signatories blame government, parliament, judiciary, media, police, authorities etc if they do not toe to their ideology. These zombies in India attack from cinema to the counterculture. Most of these set hands are always busy in pro and anti missive. Universities may not be specializing in Harry Potter courses, but the fact that there is a predominance of Left-wing idealogy at the campuses can’t be questioned.

The long list goes on. But hardly any of the signatories could be identified and described with their eminent academics or teaching works. And yet they draw fat salaries and grants only to work for their parties and play politics. Ironically, good numbers of them have their own NGOs and getting crores as grants only for disruptive and obstructive activities.  

Now such academics have thrived in lesser-known universities and colleges even in polytechnics. They are indoctrinating lakhs of students and large numbers of them pay sizable tuition fees. There is nearly 70 or 80 percent of humanities and language teachers are inclined to the Left ideology. The RTE and expansion of education have created a big Left-wing radical column that hates the values of those who develop the institutions and pay for their fat wages.

A number of central universities in Delhi and elsewhere are apt examples of this kind. On account of this unique ideology, it is regarded as a freak, indulges in a left politics and shunned by others. Most of the heads appointed there are certain to be a someone of the Left-wing. In fact, a non-left distinguished person, no longer become a head there easily. When a new perfect candidate of the non-Left family emerges is disregarded.

This is the way that more and more Left-wing dons choose ever more Left-wing college heads, and a self-sustaining ring is formed from which anybody with even a little non-Left-wing symptoms is debarred for the rest of time. This is not right. Our public-funded institutions should serve society and not the parties. Our universities are not financed by the Left-wingers, so why should they serve the Left-wing?

The nation needs McCarthyism type purification. Late Senator Joseph McCarthy started this purgation in America in the fifties. Presidents Harry S. Truman was also a strong supporter of this kind of movement. By misguiding Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDG), they extend their territories.

There must be a balance.  But now Marxist dons teach History, 20th-century novels and Shakespeare as well. Humanities need an exchange of ideas. But those are taught exclusively Left-wing prism, minds will be shrunken and intolerant. 

During anti-CAA/NRC disturbances, evidence for this can be found in the rising intolerance towards Right-wing or non-connected groups in our universities.  Others are subjected to unspeakable bullying. Even teachers are subjected to atrocious insults.

Academicians’ signature campaign or letter writing is just like funny Tik-Tok games. It is much more difficult to Right-wing teachers writing or restoring a signature campaign, though some teachers did recently circulate a pro-CAA/NRC letter. If you want peace, it's wise to keep silent and smile on everything lest it is blown off.

This silence has built up our universities a vast new army of Left-leaning academics — many of them not very brilliant or scholarly, intolerant of conflicting views of others. They claim to fight the ‘communal’ and ‘caste’ history and politics but they cash on this and sustain on the grants of the governments, annexed from the eye-watering public through taxes which citizens are now forced to pay.

What is the cure of this malaise? Students cannot speak because they are also prisoners of this ‘artificial intelligence.’ Political action may backfire. We must pray that our universities don't produce rioters and disruptionistss. This good-intentioned expansion of education has been ruined by the politicians and resulted in the formation of a big Left-wing column, found a new constituency in Muslims but indignantly oppose the values and idea of India who pay their fat salaries and lucrative grants.

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