The misguided students (and failed teachers) of JNU
We, the teachers, have failed them. They came to us to learn and we taught them to agitate. The malaise begins from the stage of primary schools where kids come at the age of three or four as little angels and leave at the age of 17 or 18 as little devils. We call them adults and give them voting rights in the fond (misguided) belief that they are adults - no, they are not. Teachers are foster parents. Every act of aggression is an unheard disagreement. The child has a right to protest, the parent does not.
The seething anger in our universities which is showing signs of boiling over is caused by three factors. The first and the foremost is the sheer failure of our teaching system. Education has two components, one that trains a child for earning a living and the other that teaches them how to live. We have failed on both the fronts. When a child (I prefer that word to "students") does not see a career at the end of the tunnel, she is frustrated, angry and protesting.
The second is the absence of the teacher as the role model. It is okay to protest. Have we, the teachers, taught them how to protest? Professor Jagdish (VC-JNU) has asked them to come and discuss. Have we taught them the right way of discussing?
I remember a meeting of the faculty at IIT-Delhi when we were considering protesting the fifth pay commission. Professor Indresan (ex-director, IIT-Madras) went up to the dais and said, "Gentlemen, I am with you, but remember, we are a respected community, we are expected to set examples of the good conduct. Respectability is like virginity - once lost it cannot be regained."
He walked off the dais and so did everybody else. There was no further protest. In the ancient Indian system, the teacher (gurus - the rajguru) advised the king and the king gave them protection against the anti-social elements. Whenever in doubt, the king went to the gurus.
The shame of the JNU crisis is not the protesting students - the shame is the teachers joining the protest. As I wrote in an earlier piece, I strongly believe that teaching should be brought under ESMA (Essential Services Maintenance Act).
If the teachers have a grudge with the police, they must advise the government through proper channels. Let us not "use" our children to further our petty ambitions. Leave teaching and join politics if you wish to be an activist, but please do not pollute the university. Let education happen. The virus is not outside the university system, it is inside. Disease sets in when the virus enters the body.
Then there is the question of infusion of politics into the university system. Of course, the students want justice. It is their fundamental right as enshrined in the Constitution. The JNU is a mini-township, a city by itself and should be the model of what a city should and can be.
The liberal arts must train the child to appreciate, analyse, debate and argue (logically and emotionally) humanism. The relationship of science to humanities is one of means to an end and must be understood as such. Religions can be discussed, appreciated and debated in the healthy spirit of tolerance and acceptance; their practice lies outside the university system. Swami Vivekananda says religion is the biggest unifier. It is, however, the biggest divider. Religion is the cause of peace. It is also the cause of war.
We, the teachers, are responsible for teaching tolerance of religion - not the religion. Of course, a Rohith Vemula dying is a matter of serious concern for all of us. We need to contemplate where we went wrong. Life is god's most precious gift, no principle, however glorious, can justify the taking of it (Arthur Miller in The Crucible). Let us not allow the politicians to hijack the issue and practise petty politics in the university campus.
Let the teachers of political science teach the science of politics and not its practice. Train them to be political thinkers, not the practitioners of it. Science researches fission and fusion, not the making of an atom bomb. Teach liberal arts and the difference between beauty and vulgarity. Teach them good politics that furthers social development and not the petty and vulgar politics used for short-term gains.
At the end of the day, three things need to be set right. One, the teachers must teach the children and make them employable and productive. If our economy today cannot guarantee jobs for all, let us train them for self-employment and entrepreneurship.
Two, the teachers must teach with love, patience and tolerance and must be the role models for children to emulate.
Three, the teachers must keep the politicians out of the university campuses and allow and settle disagreements within ourselves. The Constitution of India constructed three institutions - the legislature, executive and judiciary. It was perhaps assumed that the moral fabric of the country shall be built by the fourth institution - the university. Let us do our job with all humility and give to the country a hard-working, tolerant, vibrant and happy young generation. That is what we are paid for.
I have known Professor Jagdish as a next door neighbour. I am yet to see a teacher more humble and frugal. Thhs is a silver lining on the JNU campus. I congratulate the ministry of human resources for this excellent choice. He has asked the students and teachers to come, discuss and resolve the issues through dialogue. I pray to Almighty that he succeeds.