I've been watching and following the JNU fracas for a while. I'd even followed the 'anti national' vs 'stifling of dissent' debate - lest I miss out on the nuances. I wanted to know whether there was any fundamental difference between the 'jhola' carrying college goer of today from that of the '70s - my generation!
Idealism is the watchword in every college campus. For the average college goer, a lost cause becomes a passion because the college days become the crucible, where everyone tries to carve a niche for himself/herself. The process undergoes repeated changes as an individual sheds many images and is constantly on the lookout for the 'right' one and it attains closure when he/she finally takes up a professional career. I'd seen my friends at the University College campus in Thiruvananthapuram who'd taken up anti establishment stands - only because it had a mass appeal and there was enhanced mystique when they fell foul of the police and retrieved themselves - change their opinions to merge with the professions they were in......the biggest turn around being when some of them, due to a twist of fate, adorned the uniform themselves! And not to forget, the political parties were ever eager to patronise them to achieve their ends!!
In other words, the college going youth was looked at by their elders from that point of view....a combination of studies and 'acceptable' mischief!
Coming to the JNU fracas, I'd like to believe that the students seem to have been taken for a ride by a caucus who loathe India. Otherwise after raising anti-India slogans and when confronted by the police, why did they chose to give them the slip and go absconding? They're, now, seeking a safe haven within the campus. What made them shout slogans honouring the hanged, Afzal Guru, the architect of the Parliament attack? What was honourable in Yakub Memon, who was involved in the Bombay blasts?
There's absolutely no doubt that the guilty students who'd dabbled with the misplaced caucus should face the law and undergo appropriate punishment. For starters, Umar Khalid and the four others must hand themselves over to the police for interrogation to get at the truth. There's no escaping that! And the college authorities must ensure to allot the hostel for genuine, bonafide students of the institution please.
Tailpiece.
The visit of the political leaders into the university campus - without understanding the ground situation - was blasphemous and mischievous. They do not even have the gumption to apologise to the nation after realising the goof up they've made! Sad!!
PS.
I feel I, too, have a stake in the prestige and the good name of the Jawaharlal Nehru University because I'm a science graduate, affiliated to that institution, after having done my training at the National Defence Academy during 1973 - '75!
Idealism is the watchword in every college campus. For the average college goer, a lost cause becomes a passion because the college days become the crucible, where everyone tries to carve a niche for himself/herself. The process undergoes repeated changes as an individual sheds many images and is constantly on the lookout for the 'right' one and it attains closure when he/she finally takes up a professional career. I'd seen my friends at the University College campus in Thiruvananthapuram who'd taken up anti establishment stands - only because it had a mass appeal and there was enhanced mystique when they fell foul of the police and retrieved themselves - change their opinions to merge with the professions they were in......the biggest turn around being when some of them, due to a twist of fate, adorned the uniform themselves! And not to forget, the political parties were ever eager to patronise them to achieve their ends!!
In other words, the college going youth was looked at by their elders from that point of view....a combination of studies and 'acceptable' mischief!
Coming to the JNU fracas, I'd like to believe that the students seem to have been taken for a ride by a caucus who loathe India. Otherwise after raising anti-India slogans and when confronted by the police, why did they chose to give them the slip and go absconding? They're, now, seeking a safe haven within the campus. What made them shout slogans honouring the hanged, Afzal Guru, the architect of the Parliament attack? What was honourable in Yakub Memon, who was involved in the Bombay blasts?
There's absolutely no doubt that the guilty students who'd dabbled with the misplaced caucus should face the law and undergo appropriate punishment. For starters, Umar Khalid and the four others must hand themselves over to the police for interrogation to get at the truth. There's no escaping that! And the college authorities must ensure to allot the hostel for genuine, bonafide students of the institution please.
Tailpiece.
The visit of the political leaders into the university campus - without understanding the ground situation - was blasphemous and mischievous. They do not even have the gumption to apologise to the nation after realising the goof up they've made! Sad!!
PS.
I feel I, too, have a stake in the prestige and the good name of the Jawaharlal Nehru University because I'm a science graduate, affiliated to that institution, after having done my training at the National Defence Academy during 1973 - '75!
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