18 january 2024 The fading role of universities in society

The fading role of universities in society

With higher education centres turning into carriers of political propaganda, there is little room for academic freedom or informed public discourse

attempt to curtail academic freedom

1 UGC order to college and university

to install the Union government’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao logo on their premises

2 Means attempt to curtail academic freedom, which is already under siege. 

क्या यह पहली बार है

This is not a one-off incident. Such diktats from the government have been sent previously too. 

Earlier, they were asked to conduct activities such as generating awareness on G-20 meetings and Swachhatha campaigns.

 As a repeat of such directives, the UGC, in a letter of December 1, required the colleges to create selfie points featuring the Prime Minister.

सरकार इनका इस्तेमाल कैसे कर रही है

While the government’s insistence that academic institutes act as carriers of their political propaganda is becoming more trenchant कटु , 

the concept of universities being vehicles of free thought would fall by the wayside. 

The last year saw several occasions that attempted

1 to throttle academic freedom. Indian Institute of Science (IISc) — the country’s top-ranking institute — had to call off a discussion on the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

2 Last March, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration decided to impose fines to the tune of ₹20,000 for protesting on the campus — a decision withdrawn later. 

3 Recently two important scholars resigned from their positions at Ashoka University

 following the publication of a paper that argued that the ruling party won a disproportionate share of seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. 

Can Democracy survive without dissenters and critical thinkers?

1  What better platform than an academic institute to hold such discussions? 

2 Such discussions are crucial in a functioning democracy, regardless of anyone’s ideology or belief system.

3  Placing restrictions on the articulation of one’s opinion or ideas can negatively impact academic work and hurt research environment.

फ्रीडम इंडेक्स में भारत की क्या पोजीशन है

1 . The Prime Minister himself proudly proclaimed that democracy is part of Indian DNA

2 But what is missing in such performative chest-thumpings is the lack of concern for the freedom to conduct civic discourses that are vital for participatory democracy to thrive.

3  The downward spiral of academic freedom is reflected in India’s position in the indices prepared by the V-Dem Institute of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

4  India’s academic freedom index is in the 

🍁bottom 30% among 179 countries, according to last year’s report. 

🍁On a scale of 0 (low) to 1 (high), India scored 0.38. 

🍁What’s ironic is that this score is lower than India’s bête noire Pakistan’s 0.43. 

Independent India had seen such low rankings only during the Emergency years.

भारत में क्या हो रहा और क्या सीख ले सकते हैं ? और फ्रीडम ऑफ स्पीच 

1 In recent times, we have seen many such examples of the government intimidating डराना scholars into submission. 

2 Unlike in New Zealand, academic freedom is not mentioned in the Indian constitution; it is subsumed in the concept of the right to free speech as a part of the fundamental rights. 

3 A guaranteed principle in the Indian constitution, it is subject to reasonable restrictions.

4  The constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech is often hindered निस्र्द्ध  by the application of sedition law (Section 124A) or more commonly misused clauses under Section 295A – hurting religious feelings. 

5 Defamation lawsuits are now becoming tools of harassment against artists and academic scholars.

The fading academic freedom and मिस use  of freedom of speech 

1 is also reflected in the gradual erosion of institutional autonomy, including the selection of Vice-Chancellors and heads of academic institutes. 

2 The UGC Act of 1956 specifically says that its core function is to monitor the standards in universities, “in consultation with universities”. 

3 As Niraja Gopal Jayal wrote in one of her essays, the UGC 

“has seen a steady accretion एक साथ वृद्धि of power and displayed a heightened propensity to function as an instrument of the ministry”. 

4 It has now become a common practice, both at the Central and State government levels, to make university appointments on political considerations rather than merit.

In a detailed analysis of academic freedom published in India Forum, Nandini Sundar and Gowhar Fazili say,

 “Contracts with faculty should include a clause on the protection of academic freedom, i.e., 

1 they will not be penalized for extra-mural activities…

2 Global institutions can help by including ‘Academic Freedom’ as one indicator in university rankings…” 

3 It is time that universities formulate system-wide protections against restricting academic autonomy and freedom of expression,

4  taking a leaf out of the Education Act of New Zealand

wherein academic freedom is defined as: “the freedom of academic staff and students, within the law, to question and test received wisdom, to put forward new ideas and to state controversial or unpopular opinions”.

 The political parties, in the larger interest of the nation, must begin consultations with faculty bodies and students’ associations to change the current sorry state of academic freedom and autonomy in the country. 

We are celebrating the 75th year of India’s existence as a Republic. It is time to remember that we are yet to realise Tagore’s vision of a nation, where the “mind is without fear”.

Source the hindu