New Delhi, Feb. 21: The suspension of two students by OP Jindal Global University for putting up posters for a discussion on “Ram Mandir: A farcical project of Brahmanical Hindutva Fascism,” has once again raised the issue of shrinking space for dissent and critical thinking in educational campuses across India.
OP Jindal University has suspended two Law students, Mukundan Nair and Ramnit Kaur for putting up posters and holding a discussion on Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The university administration has termed it as “a serious violation of the student code of conduct.”
The suspended students reportedly said they were manhandled and told to vacate their hostels in the middle of the night on February 10.
In November last, a political scientist Achin Vanaik was asked to apologize by OP Jindal University in Haryana for comments he had made during a lecture on the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Venkatesh Nayak, Director of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative told Radiance, “This seems to be another unfortunate instance in the long series of incidents that are happening across the country where the right of freedom of expression and particularly in the context of expressing dissent or contrarian views are being curbed in the name of academic discipline.”
“Prime Minster Narendra Modi has himself said publicly on multiple occasions that our universities must become institutions where students are encouraged to think critically. Unless the spaces are protected for thinking critically, this vision of Prime Minister cannot be achieved,” added Venkatesh.
Syed Ali Nadeem Rezavi, Professor of History, AMU and Secretary of Indian History Congress, said, “Today Universities are being made to toe a line. No questions to be asked, no carts to be rocked, no ideas to be challenged! The job of an intellectual is to question everything, challenge all accepted notions and suggest alternatives.”
