#ShutDownJNU: Nationalism doesn't belong to Modi sarkar only

The students protest in JNU, anti-India sloganeering and subsequent arrest of the JNUSU president and police crackdown in the campus have once again revived the debate on nationalism.

Nationalism is a manifestation of patriotism and democratic pluralism which can never be based on shallow considerations of intolerance and religious communalism.

Also, there cannot be different yardsticks to measure nationalism. No sane mind will justify anti-India activities from its soil and anybody who is involved in such activities should be punished according to law.

But, to use brutal force to crush dissent voice under the garb of nationalism is as anti-national as the incident itself.

A different world with its own worldview that is what describes Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Like Nehruji, the university believes in democratic values, modernity, secularism, pluralism and innovation of ideas yet very sensitive to feelings of common man.

This is a university where foreign policy influences voting pattern in student union election and this is also the same university where students stand united with the cause of daily wage labourers working in university complex.

As a premier educational institution, it has contributed to all aspects of public life and has provided a good platform for the people from rural and backward regions to realise their dreams.

The recent incident of anti-India sloganeering and the subsequent police action and the campaign on media to brand the university as a den of anti-national activity and demand for its shut down has pained the intellectuals a lot.

But keeping the emotion aside, there are certain serious questions which need to be answered.

What exactly happened on the night of February 9?

There are different versions about the protest rally but as the video clippings show, a handful of students were shouting slogans against hanging of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt, convicted of terrorism by the apex court of India.

They questioned the legitimacy of Indian state over Kashmir and had gone to the extent of shouting slogans against the union of India also. Such incidents can never be tolerated by any country.

When we collectively resort to foolish action despite being individually intelligent, it reflects our sick mentality.

The Constitution of India, which has given us the freedom of speech and expression, has also provided that it is our sacred duty to protect the unity and integrity of our country. Anti-nationalism has no place in India and JNU cannot be an exception.

I saw a few intellectuals on television comparing JNU incident with students movement in US during Vietnam War and were wondering if US did not take any action for supporting Vietnam from US soil, how can the action against the protesting JNU students be justified.

But I see no parallel between the two incidents.

Here, India is not attacking any country; rather, it is a question of its own integrity and sovereignty. If present isn't preserved, it will destroy the future.

The law should take its own course and whoever is found guilty of indulging in anti-national activities from Indian soil should be punished.

Being the students of such a premier university, they owe more to the nation than many others who are not so privileged to cross the north gate of the university to get the quality education it offers at a highly subsidised price.

How the matter was dealt with? Anybody who is little familiar with JNU will vouch that it has its own mechanisms to deal with any kind of activity within the campus.

So far as university administration is concerned, the vice-chancellor is the appropriate authority. Even the Delhi Police do not enter into the campus suo moto without permission from the university authorities.

In the present case, the university set up proctoral inquiry and suspended eight students based on interim report of a disciplinary committee.

Subsequently, the student union president was arrested by Delhi Police on charge of sedition and it was a matter of coincidence that the arrest came after home minister tweeted of stern action against all those who were involved in the anti-national activities in the campus.

Whether the sedition charge will sustain in the court of law, it is for the judiciary to decide based on proof and evidence. I was very surprised at the swift reaction from the ministry because in the Hyderabad University case (which is also a central university), the response was quite different.

The home minister even went to the extent of linking the students with Hafiz Saeed, based on a tweet from a forged account. Was it because of its threat perception to the integrity of India? If so, the ministry action was justified.

But, if the response was quick because it involves questions of nationalism, then it needs further debate.

BJP does not have the patent of nationalism.

Nationalism in India has its roots in the freedom struggle and a party which has no contribution to the nationalist movement claiming to be the patent holder of nationalism has no logical base.

If radicalisation of the campus by the extreme Left is a threat, so also the growing radicalisation by the rightwing extremists.

What happened during the visit of Rahul Gandhi to JNU campus and the organised manner in which Congress leader Anand Sharma was attacked are signs of intolerance by forces like BJP and ABVP.

Students are the backbone of a nation. It is important that they do not fall prey to anti-national forces.

But it is equally important that innocent students who come to universities to build their careers are not bullied and a fear psychosis is not created in their minds. Student organisations, who do not believe in one particular ideology, must not be persecuted.

If universities are converted into laboratories of conflict, it will have larger implications on the society as well.

Nationalism is too broad concept to accommodate all kinds of ideologies. Universities are knowledge centres and the way in which this government has started interfering in the affairs of the universities is only detrimental to the system of higher education in India.

Government's credibility is questioned because it is not working for protecting education but, as rightly said by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, for clamping down academic freedom and imposing Hindutva ideology on institutions that should otherwise be autonomous.

Therefore, the BJP style of nationalism is limited to jingoism only. People are asking, IIT-Madras, FTII, Pune, Aligarh University, Hyderabad Central University, JNU - what next?

Response to nationalism cannot be selective. But, the reaction of the government to JNU incident on the one hand and stoic silence to the regular display of Pakistani and ISIS flags in Kashmir on the other is a clear indication that nationalism has different meanings for BJP in different contexts.

Everybody is aware about the orientation of PDP towards the Kashmir issue, yet the BJP forged alliance with them for the sake of power and political opportunism. Where was their nationalism then?  

Where was nationalism when Nathuram Godse was praised as a patriot by Sakshi Maharaj?

What kind of nationalism prompted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Pakistan despite continuous abatement of terrorism by that country?

Perhaps, the answer lies in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir. So, BJP is using nationalism as a convenient tool to further their political agenda.

Therefore, I feel that the JNU issue should be delinked from political fisticuffs and should be treated purely from law and order point of view.

Keeping in mind the sensitivity of the issue and life and career of the students, those who are found to be guilty of hobnobbing anti-national ideas should be punished and the university should be left in peace.