"This is not an academic research paper. How one can assess the
success or failure of Gujarat Model, being implemented more than a
decade and Food Security Bill just announced (implementation?)? This
is against the code of conduct of teaching profession. A teacher can
put forth the bare quantitative facts without putting one's own
opinion. On reading the data students/society can make their mind as
they think proper. Under the name of democracy, academic freedom ,
etc., we are misleading the public doing more harm to governance."
___________________________________________________________________
On Wed, 30 Apr 2014 16:46:47 +0530 wrote
> Curbing academic freedomBJP's attack on St Xaviers Principal
betrays its insensitivity to dissent and lack of faith in autonomy
of institutions of higher learningTheopene-mail of principal of
Mumbai's prestigious St Xaviers College to his students, slamming
Narendra Modi's Gujarat model and praising Congress initiatives like
Food Security Bill has set the cat among pigeons, triggering a
controversy and a nationwide political debate. The provoked and
outraged BJP, which has approached theElection Commission, has
invoked the question of ethics in usingeducational institutionsfor
churning political debate. By doing so, the BJP has questioned the
autonomy of institutions of higher education and their right to
intellectual freedom. It is irrelevant if theeducational
institutionsare partly or fully funded by the government. They are
places that are expected to not just churn out good
academicresultsbut also inspire critical thinking rooted in the
socio-economic and political ground realities among students. In
that light, the conduct of the principal is justified and no amount
of hair splitting over whether he was well within his rights to air
his views or whether it was proper for him to use the college
website to do so can de-legitimise the right ofeducational
institutionsof higher learning to bring political debates on
campuses in pursuance of making youth socially and politically
conscious. This is exactly what the Mumbai college principal has
done, not airing his partisan views, but offering a rational and
comparative critique of Gujarat's corporatized model and the
Congress' model of social welfare schemes. It does not amount to
influencing students; it only inspires them to think, view things
critically and take their decisions and in doing so the principal
needs to be congratulated for having done his job with a sense of
responsibility and fair play.The stung BJP's over-reaction to the
principal's e-mail is flawed for several reasons. First of all, it
smacks of hypocrisy. Campuses across the country are thriving homes
to students wings of all political parties, even with the added
disadvantage of criminalized goons joining ranks of such student
wings. The BJP is no exception; infact its own units of student wing
ABVP has been accused of using intimidation and violence to coerce
students and even threaten faculty members on a number of occasions.
The politics on the campuses of key institutions has often played a
palpable role inelectioncampaigning and politicians have used
campuses for their rallies and speeches. A year ago, when Narendra
Modi descended on Delhi University's Sri Ram College of Commerce to
sell his Gujarat model, did it not amount to bringing political
debate to the campus? Should the BJP memory be so short term as to
forget that to make Modi SRCC rally possible, not only did police
had to use water cannons and lathi-charge to push back students
democratically protesting against his visit but also the saffron
brigade's student wings had to go on an over-drive of bullying
tactics to seek revenge and silence the dissenters. So is the BJP
trying to say that bringing political wings and encouraging a
culture of political hooliganism in campuses is fine but inculcating
healthy debates about politics is unacceptable?
Second, the BJP's claim that the college principal's letter amounts
to influencing minds of students is not only preposterous but also
ridiculous. The principal has not asked his students to vote or not
vote for any particular party but simply dissected the Gujarat
model, explaining the pitfalls of reliance on corporate sector for
economic growth and talked about the significance of emphasis on
social sector in India, through which he praises some existing
government schemes in social sector. He ends up by asking students
to think and take their decisions. There is no element of coercion.
Besides, such an argument that 'an educational institution's head
offering his critique of socio-political issues amounts to
influencing students' is to undermine the intelligence of students
and their capacity to engage in a crucial debate. In a country where
BJP is fighting elections purely on excessive pumping of money to
inflate its image and that of its prime ministerial candidate
through well oiled propaganda machinery, advertisements,
advertorials and paid news, it makes a mockery of things to presume
that provoking a rational debate among adults of voting age is akin
to influencing. Thirdly, the communal colour that the BJP has been
trying to give to the principal's e-mail smacks of a xenophobic
tendency and this must be discarded immediately before it has its
dangerous spill-over effect.
Fourthly, and more importantly,educational institutionscannot be
isolated from the politically surcharged atmosphere or from the
socio-economic ground realities of the country and the world.
Promoting a healthy culture of debating and discussing adds to the
health of these institutions which churn out not only pass outs
ready to pursue their respective careers but also leaders engaging
in political and social issues. It would do the right wing, which
believes less in looking back at the course of history and more in
re-writing it, to read the pages of history not very long ago and
see how variouseducational institutionsand the movements that sprung
within played a crucial role in the freedom struggle of the country,
also during the infamous period of Emergency that the BJP loves to
talk about to silence the Congress.
The BJP opposition to the letter and the entire furore over it stems
from its genetic DNA of intolerance. It is not about questioning the
methods employed by the Mumbai college's academic, much less about
challenging his views; it is indeed about opposing the very idea of
dissenting views and democratic thoughts, the ability and legitimacy
of anyone to offer a critique that does not augur well with its own
unprincipled ideology. Besides, it also challenges the very
rationale of thinking.What is your take on the subject?Educate,
Empower, ElevateProf. Bholanath DuttaFounder, Convener &
PresidentEmail: president@knowledgecafe.org president@mtcglobal.org
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Regards,
Dr P H Waghodekar
Advisor (HR), IBS & PME (PG)
Marathwada Institute of Technology,
Aurangabad: 431028 (Maharashtra) INDIA.
(O) 02402375113 (M) 7276661925
E-Mail: waghodekar@rediffmail.com
Website: www.mit.asia
Engineering & Management Education: An Engine of Prosperity.
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