UNREST IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Recently, incidents of unrest in educational institutions are being highlighted by the media and discussed widely all over the country. Recently, there was a case of suicide by a student of the Central University at Hyderabad. Then came the news regarding some students unrest at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The unrest also was echoed in the Central University at Jadavpur in West Bengal. Student unrest is nothing new in our country. Looking at the positive side it indicates social vibrancy in educational campuses. Academic community in general and Student community in particular are highly sensitive to goings on around them in the society. Academicians in our country however play safe and avoid direct involvement, though they may silently play a role behind the scenes. Their service conditions may also check their passionate and direct involvement, though the role of academicians in forming public opinion on all issues pertinent to the society cannot be questioned. Students are quite volatile and emotional and are ready to plunge into any issue considered relevant to them. It is time to take up various dimensions of unrest in educational institutions so that the major purposes for which these institutions are created are served. Students who are adults and have completed 18 years of age are full- opinions on fledged citizens of our country and possess every right to hold all matters including political issues. Collective students activities are undertaken through students unions which are duly constituted and they have the approval of the respective institutions. That means, unauthorized, unapproved activities undertaken by any group of students may lack accountability and naturally will have to come under strict vigilance by the authorities concerned. Generally, students undertake creativee activities such as sports, cultural programmes and various institutional functions like the annual day, founders day, and teachers day and so on. However, they also
provide platform for healthy debate and discussions on matters of academic, institutional and socio-political interest as well. Students unions also undertake their programmes within the framework of the calendar of events of the academic institution so that their programmes do not clash with the ongoing academic activities of the institutions. Elections to studentt bodies have become increasingly political though no law is violated on this score. There are student unions like ABVP, NSUI and groups lenient to leftist thinking functioning in many campuses. Elections more often than not create friction among students and divide them on political lines. If the students are politically inclined, there nothing wrong or unlawful about that. Problem arises only when student bodies start indulging in violence and taking law into their hands. It is here the authority of the institution comes into picture for maintaining discipline and allowing healthy activities to go on. Once the students unions are politically created and student community is politically divided, the institutional premises are exposed to outside influence. There are political and other vested interests to make the students involve in such activities which serve their own purposes, often at the cost of peace in these campuses. All institutions in our country are caste and community ridden. The basic reason for this is the lack of identity for individuals on their own personality including personal merit or otherwise. Caste is an emotional binder and provides mass identity to groups, whether they are serving officials, teachers, students or any working group in an institution. Social relevance of caste system in India has been well documented and understood. Using students to further the welfare of specific castes is easy because of the mass psychology which operates to bind people to their respective castes. Caste gives emotional fervour also to issues which are not having direct relevance to caste interests.
Communal or religious interests become detrimental to institutional functioning on occasionss when students are divided on communal lines. The two major communities of India are the Hindu and the Muslim. There are other religious people such as Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Zorashtrians living in amity with others. There are also rationalist thinkers who are free and frank to hold their views. India has chosen the right path of secularism to ensure peaceful co-existence of all sections of society irrespective of their faith and beliefs. In a huge country of the magnitude of India possessing 1.30 billion people in its folds, occasional rifts and conflicts are inevitable. While the major chunk of this population is busy earning their bread and butter by their day-to-day toils, there are fringe elements in all these groups keeping up the heat of mistrust and hatred among them. When these extreme elements take issues into their hands and flare up emotional frenzy the communal amity becomes the immediate casualty. India has a special geographical position wherein the country is adjoined on its borders by Pakistan on the west and Bangla Desh on the east. These two adjoining countries are Muslim counties by their own declaration. India has the responsibility not only to maintain healthy relationship with these countries, but also to maintain its own secular credentials since it possesses a huge Muslim population. While Kashmir has become a bone of contention between India and Pakistan, India has to take care of the interests and wellbeing of is Muslim community by bringing the fruits of development to their doorsteps. However, many politicians in India are tempted to play the communal card to secure votes from the Muslim community rather than addressing to their more vital educational and employment needs. In a way, India is sandwiched between its foreign policy towards Pakistan and communal vote interests of the political parties to secure political power. It is not that India is having problems only with Pakistan and Bangla Desh. Even with countries like Nepal, Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Sri Lanka which
are our adjoining neighbours, India has to deal with mature diplomacy and trust. However, on account of the communal back lash which may be caused in matters of sensitive interests, India has special stakes while dealing with its Muslim neighbours. Students taking part in politics has been in vogue even during freedom struggle, prior to Independence. Unrest in colleges and Universities is nothing new in India. In early 1940s student unrest came to surface in Annamalai University in Tamil Nadu. During anti-hindi agitation in 1960s, almost all educational institutions in Tamil Nadu witnessed widespread turmoil which led eventually to a change in government in this state. Even Mr. K. Kamaraj, the then Congress leader from Tamil Nadu was defeated in elections by a student leader. It is well known that Loyola College in Chennai often undertakes election surveys. The students of this college are also known for their exemplary talents in the field of music, arts and culture. Many a time, matters involving students get precipitated by outside interference. Politicians getting involved in students affairs is a major concern though no law can prevent such involvement. Maintenance of discipline and law and order within the institutional premises is best left to the institutional authorities concerned. The educational institutions should have complete autonomy in managing their own campus activities. Bringing disciplinary mechanisms such as police entering into the campuses to put down students activities is totally unwarranted and only helps to make matters worse. Unless institutional permission is granted under extra-ordinary circumstances, law and order maintaining mechanism from outside the campus should be avoided. In the recent happenings of students unrest, caste and communal disparities came to the fore. There have been opportunities for anti-social and anti-national elements taking matters into their hands putting the law enforcing authorities into a tight spot. Issuess concerning development and economic progress
should be naturally part of students discussion and debate. Diverge viewpoints can emerge and there should be enough freedom even for strong dissent when some passionately hold opinions on issues of national importance. However, care and caution must be exercised to see that such events are not taken over by unscrupulous elements that are bent upon disturbing peace in the institutional premises. There are several charitable organization sponsoring, creating and sustaining academic institutions in the country. The government alone cannot invest fully for the infrastructure needed for our academicc requirements. That is why, large scale participation of private organizations and individuals is consideredd important. Though some of these organizations are caste or community groups, there services to the cause of education cannot be underestimated. In a country where castes and communities continue to be social identities, their involvement in building academic institutions and safeguarding their community interests becomes quite justifiable. That is why we come across many schools and colleges carrying the names of their social identity such as the Hindu Higher Secondary School, Madras Christian College, Muslim High School and so on. As long as they function within the framework of the laws of the land, there is nothing wrong in carrying such titles for their institutions. Even at the central level, there is a Banaras Hindu University and an Aligarh Muslim University. They are only helpful in projecting our rich cultural diversity and cherished values over centuries of the history of the land. They have never become hot spots of institutional turbulence at any time. Institutional unrest must be viewed from the point of view of long term social restructuring. All these developments may look disturbing at the first sight, but they may be looked upon as forerunners to what the country is expected to face and be prepared for drastic changes in our perspective, thinking and approaches to national issues for which the emerging youth in our country
must take active interest and responsibility. Campus unrest in educational institutions is just a tip of the iceberg and the country as a whole is impatient to usher in a new era of socio-economic development wherein science and technology will be the prime drivers and caste, communal and divisive elements will be naturally edged out of the main stream. 11.03.2016 N. Balaraman