JNU - A Vision of Modern Democratic India

Through the ongoing controversy what we need to understand is that ours is a young nation still in the making which has all the ingredients to become truly a great nation, but it needs time. Give this nation that time, that gestation period and it will show the world the true meaning of greatness, one which is home to a complete spectrum of diverse culture but still thrives together with immeasurable amount of tolerance which has never been experienced anywhere else (this holds for the common citizens of India but unfortunately not for the practitioners of divisive vote-bank politics which they don’t find anti-national).

Every powerful nation that exists today has gone through some sort of civil war which led to enormous violence and bloodshed. We too have our share of challenges; be it the Kashmir issue, Nagaland or Naxalism; but we have the opportunity to show the world that we can do it in a better way without any bloodshed. It is that unity in diversity that is the soul of the very idea of India. But during this journey, we need to heed to those voices of dissent without ridiculing them and bring them to the table for discussion. We need to give them that space to freely express their views and try to take them along in our incredible journey. We do need to preserve the unity and integrity of the country no matter what but if there are better ways available to deal with those dissenting voices then why suppress them? This is the message JNU has to give to the nation.

As an institution, JNU has contributed a lot in nation building since the very time of its inception and it will continue to do so. What needs to be understood is that JNU is perhaps the only institution remained in the country where left ideology still thrives. Therefore it always remains on the radar screen of the right-wing ideologues. Now, there are some rabid fringe elements everywhere in the country and JNU is not an exception to this but the liberal culture in JNU provide them with the opportunity to raise their voice. And because of these few people who have no support base, the right-wing got the opportunity to use these fringe elements to bring the whole institution and by default its ideological opposition down. JNU is continuously fighting the ideological battle and it will continue to do so. It cannot be discredited just because the major critiques of the ruling dispensation are coming out of JNU. The left ideology should not be confused with a misguided rebellion but as an idea whose primary motive is to bring justice to the downtrodden and underprivileged sections of the society.

Coming to the Kashmir issue, Kashmir is one such issue which needs a thorough discussion involving all the concerned parties so that the future of Kashmir could be safeguarded and the university is such a place of debate and dissent through which new ideas take shape.  This is what happened in JNU that night and for those sloganeering Kashmiri youths ‘’Bharat’’ might have simply meant men-in-uniform with weapons imposing AFSPA (which can never be a solution) and the act has received criticism from several sections for alleged concerns about human rights violations in the regions of its enforcement. ‘’Kashmir Ki Azadi’’ might have meant freedom of Kashmir from AFSPA. And as far as patriotism of Kashmiris is concerned, just because of a few, the entire citizenry can’t be doubted. I am sure, they feel as proud as us being an Indian and fully aware of the fact that the best interest of Kashmir lies with India.

I have never been to Kashmir and so not fully aware of the ground reality there and therefore hope that the officials holding office under an oath of allegiance to the Indian Constitution would enforce the ethos of the constitution and do their best to maintain the unity and integrity of the country and at the same time allow the universities to do what they are meant for. And while striking a balance between these if it is felt that the constitutional rights have been abused they should ensure that the actual perpetrators are punished through a fair trial as the nation is above all and must not suffer between this never-ending clash of ideas and a wrong message is not sent out to the countrymen.

And in the midst of all these, a great institution with the vision of a fearless modern democratic India has to be preserved.

Long live JNU and its culture, a culture that embraces critical thinking, democratic dissent, student activism, and the plurality of political beliefs for which an open, tolerant, and democratic society is inextricably linked to critical thought and expression.

It’s time to remember Rabindranath Tagore:

“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, Let my country awake.”

---

*This article is contributed by a guest author.