REFORM JNU

Right time to put Jawaharlal Nehru University on the path of reforms: Prafulla Ketkar, editor of Organiser Prafulla Ketkar, editor of Organiser, a journal affiliated with the RSS, feels this is the time to put Jawaharlal Nehru University on the path of reforms, and make it accommodating to nationalist voices, which he feels the institute has ignored. In an interview with ET, JNU alumnus Ketkar says the university is stuck in the cold war mindset. Edited excerpts: Do you feel the present crisis at JNU is tarnishing the image of the university? Prafulla Ketkar: I don't think the University's entire name is being tarnished. This is the right time to bring course correction at JNU, which has been witnessing events on nation breaking campus politics. I see this as a possibility of taking JNU on a reform road. The campus has space for Yasin Malik, Geelani and Afzal Guru supporters, but not for nationalists, which needs to change. If JNU is really the symbol of liberal politics, then why in 2003 were there protests during the felicitation of family members of those killed in the Parliament attack. The same university thinks it is okay to organise protests in support of those involved in the attack. There has never been space in the university for voices of people like Swami Ramdev or Ashok Singhal. These double standards on freedom of expression has to be corrected. The university's students oppose speeches of Americans on campus by calling them "imperial agents", but accept projects by American universities. How could JNU retain its so-called Left and ultra-Left character despite overall decline of the communist is the real question which we need to ask. If JNU is to be saved, then it should be from academic lobbying and grading on ideological basis. It should be saved from the tendencies that take cover of the democratic and Constitutional rights while subverting the same through their political actions. Ideological and academic support to anti-national forces for political considerations is the real threat to JNU. But do you think the methods used by Delhi Police for the crackdown is right? Prafulla Ketkar: One has to understand the basic character -the DNA of JNU, which is inherently 'Red'. I am not sure how raids and arrests of some antinationals will change it. In 1996, the main culprit in the Hawala case, Shahabuddin Ghouri, was also arrested from the campus. There is definitely a need to study the issues of socalled academic autonomy in JNU on objective parameters. On the one hand, you believe in freedom of speech in the Constitution, but you also allow events that denigrate the country, oppose the judgement by the highest judicial body in the country. Professor Geelani getting arrested is not a coincidence. What we need is an impartial probe into the incident, including into the so-called anti-national activities of the organisation. Students' politics needs to be constructive, not divisive and destructive, and it cannot be guided by political interference. Like any other student, I am also proud of my alma-mater, but it has to be saved from the tendencies that are antithetical to the nation that is supporting the institution through taxpayers money. Why do you say the university has little space for different, dissenting voices? Prafulla Ketkar: The voices speaking for freedom of speech campaign did not allow nationalist voices to even speak on the campus. For a long time it was Left versus non-Left, as any other political affiliation was a taboo. The establishment of a Sanskrit study centre had to wait for more than 30 years, that is also with opposition from within. You can study Urdu, Arabic and Persian from undergraduate level, all other foreign languages can be studied, but Sanskrit was neglected, which shows the mind-set. Even after the establishment, many publications in Sanskrit are delayed due to lack of funds in the last 10 years. No Israeli, no Baba Ramdev is allowed to speak on campus. Terrorists and separatists can have freedom of expression, but nationalist don't. There was no ABVP or NSUI in JNU for many years only because the Left could not take it. People had to organise themselves as freethinkers then. The university has had little space for different voices. What are the changes that you would suggest in the administrative reforms for JNU? Prafulla Ketkar: JNU is stuck in the cold war mindset. There are multiple administrative layers. New students find it difficult to deal with the phenomenon and get trapped in the hands of students union and established political organisations to find a way. There is an imbalance in academic centres. School of Social Sciences, with largest number of students, gets more attention, but School of International Studies or biotechnology, with more original research and patents hardly gets incentives. Russian studies was still the biggest centre there, at least when I was studying there, and it had very few students and several teachers. Someone has to look at all this seriously. Now with the changing times, other studies like Southeast Asia and East Asia should get more attention. To begin with, the undergraduates in the campus could be moved out to a campus away from post graduates and researchers, as they are not mature enough to cope up with the socalled "liberal" atmosphere of the institution. "Whenever there is violence, there is at least someone from school of languages. Because these are students who come directly from intermediate school. Are they mature enough to be there in such an open, liberal environment