Construct, don’t capture: JNUSU chief responds to V-C's tank request

After the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) vice-chancellor's statement requesting the government to install an army tank in the campus to instil nationalism in students, I was reminded of a poem by Bertolt Brecht:

General, your tank is a powerful vehicle
It smashes down forests and crushes a hundred men.
But it has one defect:
It needs a driver.

…

General, man is very useful.
He can fly and he can kill.
But he has one defect:
He can think.

I feel that JNU is an institution which creates these individuals who can think, who can debate and discuss and decide.

The V-C’s statement comes at a time when JNU is going through with the process of new admissions, where young batches of students are aspiring to be a part of this thinking environment.

The threat of 'capture'

While providing admission assistance to the newcomers in JNU, what troubled me more than the V-C’s idea of getting a tank on campus was the claim made in the same meeting by the other speakers present to 'capture JNU'.

When we look at these two ideas in one frame, of a tank and of capturing the university, the picture that it projects for the future of our university is frightening. It is shocking that the idea of 'capturing' a university should cross their minds.

These ideas just reinforce the threat hanging over the critical thinking and academic excellence that have been hallmarks of JNU, which the young aspirants are coming here to partake in.

In light of the events that have happened in the last one-and-a-half years at the university, the question is: what was the intent of this statement? Who is it that they want to 'capture' our university from?

Teaching us a lesson on 'nationalism'

After the incident on 9 February 2016, the police entered our campus and picked up then JNUSU president Kanhaiyya Kumar, and started raiding the hostels. That is the time that we realised how a university institution can be threatened and forced to live in fear due to police presence.

The press bites given by us in defence of the freedom of expression were tagged as ‘anti-national’ by jingoistic forces. Everyday, there were protests in front of our university gate with provocative slogans, claiming to teach us a lesson in nationalism.

While commuting outside the campus, in autorickshaws and metros and buses, JNU students were looked at suspiciously, and were made a subject of name-calling and questioning on nationalism, often leading to situations where a mob threatened the students’ safety.

The situation was so grave that the man who used to print our posters was picked up by the police for questioning, and was threatened not to print any of JNU’s posters.

At such a time, JNU braved this atmosphere by organising open public lectures discussing the different aspects of nationalism, by holding marches against this jingoism.

It is this critical thinking, which JNU stands for, that helped us struggle out of that situation.

Insensitive administration

Post 9 February 2016, we have strived for a space where discussions about JNU can happen beyond this manufactured binary of 'national' and 'anti-national'. All the issues we raised in JNU this year were related to the betterment of the campus and students, and tried to show how the idea of a university can be nurtured through these issues.

However, the disengagement and insensitivity of JNU’s administration pushed the university into controversies and turmoil one after the other. From Najeeb’s disappearance to the issues of seat cuts and fines and punishments, an engaging dialogue from the administration’s side, which should have been undertaken giving due priority to the university’s interests, was missing.

When we raised the issue of seat cuts, we had argued that when around 800 prospective students that could have joined JNU are being deprived of that opportunity, among those would be several students who are researching about the different aspects of nation-building. When we raise the issue of funds and fellowships, we do so in order that students who are pursuing their academic goals can contribute to the betterment of the society and nation.

But taking the focus away from all these things, attempts are being made – forcefully and in ridiculous ways – to hammer the nameplate of a particular idea of nationalism on JNU.

Criminalising dissent

Right now, JNU has been turned into a penal colony, where all kinds of dissent are being criminalised.

As I write this article, the past three-and-a-half years of my academic life are in danger of being wasted, as my registration for the new semester is being disallowed.

But when we imagine the university as a thinking milieu, we will always imagine a constructive passage, rather than the notion of militaristic nationalism and the intentions of 'capturing'.