Is Ramjas College Clash Between ABVP and AISA a Freedom of Speech Issue? by Madhusudan Raj, (Assistant Professor, DHRD, VNSGU)

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1 The Monthly Newsletter of the Department of Human Resource Development Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat March 2017 Vol. 7, No. 3 Is Ramjas College Clash Between ABVP and AISA a Freedom of Speech Issue? by Madhusudan Raj, (Assistant Professor, DHRD, VNSGU) Recently there were clashes between the students of ABVP, a student union body backed by the ruling BJP party, and AISA, a student union body backed by the communist/left parties of India, in the Ramjas College of Delhi University. The reason of this clash was an invitation by the Ramjas College to two JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid whom ABVP students were calling anti-national. ABVP students resorted to violence to force the university administration to cancel this invitation. Is this a freedom of speech or right to free speech issue? This clash has again given boost to the discussion of issues of freedom of speech or right to free speech in the country. The president of India Mr. Pranab Mukherjee said, there should be no room in India for the intolerant Indian. India has been since ancient times a bastion of free thought, speech and expression. Our society has always been characterised by the open contestation of diverse schools of thought and debate as well as discussion. Freedom of speech and expression is one of the most important fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution. The Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber, who was at that time in India, said, I think free speech, and I will talk here about American campuses and our campus in particular, is fundamental to what a university campus is and does. While the finance minister of India Mr. Arun Jaitley said, if you believe you have free speech then you have to be ready to concede free speech to counter your view. Freedom of speech did not extend to assaulting a country s sovereignty. But the real question here that no one is asking or debating is whether this is a freedom of speech or right to free speech issue? The answer is, no. This issue is not an issue of freedom of speech or right to free speech issue because there is no such right to begin with; and there is no such freedom to begin with. This issue is fundamentally an issue of property rights, and hardly anyone in India right now are discussing this issue from this important perspective of property rights. One of the great political theorists of the twentieth century Murray Rothbard analyzed the issue of freedom of speech (right to free speech) in great detail in his various works. Here I am reproducing his analysis in brief to make you all understand the real issues involved in that DU/JNU clash. Rothbard in his book The Ethics of Liberty said this about freedom of speech : In the first place, there are two senses in which property rights are identical with human rights: one, that property can only accrue to humans, so that their rights to property are rights that belong to human beings; and two, that the person's right to his own body, his personal liberty, is a property right 1

2 in his own person as well as a "human right." But more importantly for our discussion, human rights, when not put in terms of property rights, turn out to be vague and contradictory, causing liberals to weaken those rights on behalf of "public policy" or the "public good." As I wrote in another work: Take, for example, the "human right" of free speech. Freedom of speech is supposed to mean the right of everyone to say whatever he likes. But the neglected question is: Where? Where does a man have this right? He certainly does not have it on property on which he is trespassing. In short, he has this right only either on his own property or on the property of someone who has agreed, as a gift or in a rental contract, to allow him on the premises. In fact, then, there is no such thing as a separate "right to free speech"; there is only a man's property right: the right to do as he wills with his own or to make voluntary agreements with other property owners. In short, a person does not have a "right to freedom of speech"; what he does have is the right to hire a hall and address the people who enter the premises. He does not have a "right to freedom of the press"; what he does have is the right to write or publish a pamphlet, and to sell that pamphlet to those who are willing to buy it (or to give it away to those who are willing to accept it). Thus, what he has in each of these cases is property rights, including the right of free contract and transfer which form a part of such rights of ownership. There is no extra "right of free speech" or free press beyond the property rights that a person may have in any given case. Furthermore, couching the analysis in terms of a "right to free speech" instead of property rights leads to confusion and the weakening of the very concept of rights. The most famous example is Justice Holmes's contention that no one has the right to shout "Fire" falsely in a crowded theater, and therefore that the right to freedom of speech cannot be absolute, but must be weakened and tempered by considerations of "public policy." And yet, if we analyze the problem in terms of property rights we will see that no weakening of the absoluteness of rights is necessary. Anyone who wants to understand this matter in full is advised to carefully study the source article of Murray Rothbard by following this link: So the DU/JNU clash issue is of 'property rights' and not freedom of speech (right to free speech). The real question that we all must ponder is who owns the Delhi University where those clashes took place? If Delhi University is privately owned then it is the choice of the owner to invite whomsoever he wants to in his campus to deliver a lecture. No one has any right of physically stopping him from doing so. In that case ABVP students are in wrong and they should be physically removed from the university campus for violating university owner s property right. But if the Delhi University is a public university, which it is, then the issue is of immediately privatizing it and not debating whether or how much should be freedom of speech on its campus! I again quote Rothbard from the same article as cited above to make this point clear. Here Rothbard talks about public streets, but the analysis similarly applies to public universities too. In general, those problems where rights seem to require weakening are ones where the locus of ownership is not precisely defined, in short where property rights are muddled. Many problems of "freedom of 2

3 speech," for example, occur in the government-owned streets: e.g., should a government permit a political meeting which it claims will disrupt traffic, or litter streets with handbills? But all of such problems which seemingly require "freedom of speech" to be less than absolute, are actually problems due to the failure to define property rights. For the streets are generally owned by government; the government in these cases is "the chairman." And then government, like any other property owner, is faced with the problem of how to allocate its scarce resources. A political meeting on the streets will, let us say, block traffic; therefore, the decision of government involves not so much a right to freedom of speech as it involves the allocation of street space by its owner. The whole problem would not arise, it should be noted, if the streets were owned by private individuals and firms as they all would be in a libertarian society; for then the streets, like all other private property, could be rented by or donated to other private individuals or groups for the purpose of assembly. One would, in a fully libertarian society, have no more "right" to use someone else's street than he would have the "right" to preempt someone else's assembly hall; in both cases, the only right would be the property right to use one's money to rent the resource, if the landlord is willing. Of course, so long as the streets continue to be governmentowned, the problem and the conflict remain insoluble; for government ownership of the streets means that all of one's other property rights, including speech, assembly distribution of leaflets, etc., will be hampered and restricted by the ever-present necessity to traverse and use government-owned streets, which government may decide to block or restrict in any way. If the government allows the street meeting, it will restrict traffic; if it blocks the meeting in behalf of the flow of traffic, it will block the freedom of access to the government streets. In either case, and whichever way it chooses, the "rights" of some taxpayers will have to be curtailed. Conclusion So the real solution of DU/JNU fight between ABVP and AISA is to privatize both universities and everything else in India. As Dr. Walter Block says, if it moves, privatize it; if it doesn't move, privatize it. Since everything either moves or doesn't move, privatize everything. This country needs the regime of private property rights more than any right to free speech. That regime will solve all its conflict issues including the issue of who can or cannot speak in DU campus. But don t expect the government or its socalled implicit contract (sic) constitution to bring this regime to reality or to protect it. The State (aka government) is the biggest violator of property rights in the history of mankind and its constitutions are designed to plunder the public so trusting it to protect peoples property will be like trusting a fox to protect the hen house! Department News National Conference on Emerging Trends in Human Resource, Commerce, Management and Economics Organized by Krithin Foundation in association with Department of Human Resources Development, Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat And Supported by Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, 11 March, 2017 The National Conference on Emerging Trends in Human Resource Management, Commerce, Management and Economics would provide two fold objectives. One is to discuss and explore innovative people development and competencies in the future growth of organizations and the second is to 3

4 give a platform to the researchers and professionals to share their ideas and thoughts in their respective areas of their research. Successful, future visionary and change ready organizations involve their employees in their development and enhance their competencies right from the start. They accept that the business and future growth matrix is changing. They are aware that what worked in the past will not necessarily work in the future business environment and hence they encourage their employees to join development and competencies to make smarter decisions, uncover new ways of doing future business and ensure that they acquire competencies to influence in the future strategic plan of the organization. This kind of involvement reduces employees' resistance, which is a very important factor in the future growth of the organization. This conference stands apart because it will have an eminent speakers from their domain and have research colloquium and paper presentation for the management and where many forward thinking Managers, leaders, Faculty and Research Scholars will come together to discuss the latest insights and share unique ideas and paradigm shift beyond the currently known and recognized HR initiatives. This is a synergy of efforts between KRITHIN FOUNDATION a not for profit organization and Department of Human Resource Development of Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat actively supported by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar. Empirical and conceptual papers are invited from the research scholars, faculty members and corporate executives on the following sub-themes: Human Resource Management Economics Management Commerce Some photos: 3-Days Workshop by J K Nair on 1 st to 3 rd March 2017 Department of HRD organised 3-days workshop on Goal setting, leadership and Communication on 1 st to 3 rd March 17. The workshop was conducted by an expert trainer Mr. J K Nair. More than 60 students participated in this workshop. The trainer explained the concept of goal setting, leadership and communication with a lot of theory, games, case studies and videos. The students also learned via group activities and group discussion. The trainer en- 4

5 gaged and educated students with his communication skill and wonderful sense of humour. The students also asked many questions and there answered were solved by the trainer. The students enjoyed the workshop and shared good feedback about it. Lectures by Dr Kiran Pandya and Dr Smruti Bulsari at FDP on Research Methodology Dr Kiran Pandya delivered an invited talk on Literature Review at the National-Level Faculty Development Programme on Research Methodology with SPSS, organized by SPB College of Commerce on March 3, Dr Smruti Bulsari took sessions on Factor Analysis and Cluster Analysis in the same programme on March 3, Lectures by Dr Kiran Pandya and Dr Smruti Bulsari at UGC Sponsored Seminar on Effective Research Methodology Dr Kiran Pandya delivered Inaugural Lecture on Issues on Quantitative Research at the UGC-Sponsored State Level Seminar on Effective Research Methodology, organized by Shah N H Commerce College, Valsad on March 4, Dr Smruti Bulsari delivered a lecture on Qualitative Research in the same Seminar on March 4, Expert session on Structural Modelling (SEM) with AMSO by Dr. Bhavesh Vanparia 4 th March

6 Dr. Bhavesh Vanpariya has delivered Expert Sessions on Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with AMSO at One week National Faculty Development Programme on Research Methodology with SPSS at SPB English Medium College of Commerce, Surat on 4th March, Book Review by Dr Smruti Bulsari at the Bharuch District Management Association Dr Smruti Bulsari presented at book review on Not without My Daughter (Author: Betty Mahmoody) to celebrate International Women s day (March 8) organized by Bharuch District Management Association, Bharuch on March 6, Dr Minasree Saikia and Ms Malabika Mahajan attended this event. Lecture on Qualitative Analysis and sessions on Analysis of Covariance and repeated measures analysis of variance by Dr Smruti Bulsari Dr Smruti Bulsari delivered lecture on Qualitative Analysis and conducted sessions on Analysis of Covariance and Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance at Auro University on March 10, 2017 Study circle session by Mr. Bhautik Sheth on Social Media and professional growth on 24 th March 17 As a part of Study Circle activity by Department of HRD, Mr. Bhatik Sheth conducted a wonderful session on Social media and professional growth. Nowadays, many students are active on social media platforms but they are not aware of the efficient use of them. Mr. Bhautik Sheth explained the concept of creating and maintaining personal branding on social media platforms. He also shared the knowledge of what the students post as content on social media platform. Mr. Bhautik Sheth also share the common mistakes people do when creating profile and posting content on social media. Also, he guided students on how to create a personal brand on social media. Dr Kiran Pandya, guest of honour at International Conference in Vishakhapatnam Dr Kiran Pandya is the Guest of Honour at the International Seminar on Three Decades of SAARC: A Critical Appraisal organized by the UGC Centre for SAARC Studies, Andhra University, Vishakhapatnam during March 30-31, Dr Pandya also chaired a session in this conference. The Hindu has given a good coverage of the event, which can be accessed by clicking this URL: /saarc-afaile /article ece 6

7 Two Days workshop on Research Methodology March 30 th 31 st March 2017 A workshop on Research Methodology was organized by the Department for the students of Five Years Integrated Programme in HRD during March 30-31, The basic objective of the workshop was to acquaint the students with different methodologies of research and give them training in the developing the tools of data collection, techniques for undertaking data analysis and writing a research report. Following faculty members gave their services: Dr SmrutiBulsari Dr Madhusudan Raj Ms Neha Raval Ms Malabika Mahajan Special Invitee: Dr Neha Sheth Dr Smruti Bulsari, the class mentor (Sem- IV, IHRD), took initiative and organized this workshop. Campus recruitment by Bhakhar Trade Link for the position of HR Executive on 31 st March 17 Department of HRD organised campus recruitment by Bhakhar Trade Link for the 7

8 position of HR executive. There were 13 candidates who were shortlisted for the personal interview rounds. The interviewers took their personal interview and informed to call shortlisted candidates for final round of interview. 8

9 Editorial Team Dr. Madhusudan Raj (Chief Editor) Student Team Mr. Neel Singapuri Ms. Mansi Vyas Ms. Disha Joshi Disclaimer The views expressed in this newsletter articles are not necessarily those of the department, university or the newsletter editorial team. Neither department nor its editorial team or the university will be liable for any damage or injury whatsoever which results from the use of this newsletter. All other usual disclaimers apply. Submit Your Articles or Write to Us 9