The JNU stalemate
It is imperative to find a resolution to the JNU crisis that would be acceptable to both students as well as authorities
The ongoing stalemate at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) between students and university authorities is throwing up an important issue to the fore; one that requires detailed debate and discussion — that of affordable high education. The students' grouse is the staggering increase in hostel and food fees from Rs 2,500 a month to Rs 8,000. A pittance for many, but for students hailing from underprivileged backgrounds, this hike is a good reason to drop out of the course. And, JNU has lots of them — around 40 per cent of JNU students come from lower or middle-income families.
The college authorities claim that mess fees amounting to almost Rs 3 crore is lying unpaid; students claim that scholarship endowments don't reach them on time, therefore, forcing unpaid dues to accrue. Both sides make fair points but instead of finding an amicable solution and a marginal increase in hostel and food fees, we see the declaration of a blanket hike, that understandably rankled students. Students gheraoing college authorities can't be condoned but what other way to get their voices heard if no one is listening?
The students agitated as is their right to do so. On an unscheduled march to Parliament, the Delhi police lathi-charged the students as per their might to do so. Also being actively debated in the universities of WhatsApp and Twitter were the correctness of taxpayers' money being spent on so-called 'activist' students. Over the last few years, students of JNU have been branded as many things — terrorists, terrorist sympathisers, 'tukde tukde' gang, morally abhorrent (since 3,000 used-condoms and 2,000 liquor bottles are purportedly found daily on campus according to BJP MLA Kailash Chaudhary), etc. Videos of the five-year-old campaign, 'Kiss of Love' where many students and outsiders were seen kissing in order to protest moral policing, have also surfaced again.
JNU, ironically in its golden jubilee this year, has descended into everything that it never wanted to be. The site for liberal thought, impassioned debates, and kindred minds is today being portrayed as a den of lasciviousness, addictions, and sedition. Instead of being celebrated as an institution par excellence, JNU and its students have been painted as anti-national and anti-Indian; an anathema to the rich Indian culture. The way JNU has been portrayed will stop parents from sending their kids to the university, as if only despicable acts are carried out here. A far cry from the luminous alumni that have passed through its hallowed grounds — recent Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee, BJP ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, the list is illustrious.
Instead of celebrating a great institute's ability (of course, with government aid) to be able to provide an exceptional education to all irrespective of their economic background, we are witnessing the systematic breakdown of the fifty-old educational institution. JNU's corridors have given India several leftist, right-wing, and liberal leaders. Its campus has been the hub of bitterly fought student elections; its classrooms have given succour to enlightened minds.
The social fabric of JNU is anyway changing gradually. The number of students coming from families earning Rs 6,000 per month has been reduced from 25.7 per cent of the total in 2016-17 to 9.8 per cent in 2017-18. Students from rural backgrounds declined from 48.4 per cent in 2016-17 to 28.2 per cent in 2017-18. The idea behind JNU was to be a public institution whose educational curriculum would be reachable to all. Compare that to a clutch of other exceptional government-aided institutes that don't have enough number of seats or new-age private universities that cost Rs 10 lakh a year! Clearly, what institutes such as JNU do is more impactful for the education of this country's masses.
Therefore, if JNU is doing such wonderful things why is it being painted in such bad light? The only explanation can be hatred of a few towards what the institute stands for — liberalism, openness, inclusivity. I, for one, am happy to have my hard-earned tax money being spent towards education that is accessible to all and not just a privileged few. And no, I'm not a JNU alumnus.
Shutapa Paul is an author and media entrepreneur. Views expressed are strictly personal
