Amid Governor, CM Mann tussle in Punjab over varsities, prof remembers how Indira Gandhi stepped down as JNU Chancellor

While reacting to the development, Chaman Lal, a former professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, recalled how former prime minister Indira Gandhi had stepped down as JNU chancellor in 1977. This came after CPI(Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury had read out a memorandum outside her house, alleging the excesses during Emergency in the 1970s. Yechury was the president of the JNU students’ union then.

He had demanded her resignation as JNU chancellor as she was not the prime minister any more and wasn’t re-elected after Emergency was lifted.

“Yechury is mild in his speeches now. At that time as he was elected JNU students’ union president after Emergency, he was a prolific speaker. Indira Gandhi came outside her residence to accept the memorandum. I was there… I remember she had red cheeks like a tomato as she came smilingly…Her cheeks got all the more red in anger as Yechury read out the memorandum. She just took an about turn and immediately the next day she resigned as the JNU chancellor,” Lal said.

In Punjab, academicians offered differing views over the AAP government’s Bill, though most of them say one of them should be the chancellor. A group of professors, including Lal, have issued a statement pointing out that as the constitutional head of the state, the governor is considered the chancellor of the state universities.

“The recent instances of politically motivated appointments in the office of Vice Chancellor are going to vitiate the academic environment in the country. We are reminded of the famous statement of Nelson Mandela displayed at the entrance of the University of South Africa thus: Destroying any nation does not require the use of atomic bombs or the use of long-range missiles. It only requires lowering the quality of education…” they said in the statement.

“By appointing people who believe in a certain ideology, the whole enterprise of scientific thinking and research, which universities are obliged to pursue, is seriously compromised. The V-Cs appointed according to the will of political masters obviously have no option but to promote the interests of the political group which supported/supports them.”

It further read, “With gross politicization of the office of the Governor, the function of Chancellorship has also become increasingly political. If the state government and the central government belong to two different ideologies, a clash of interest between the democratically elected state government and the Governor who is normally a nominee of the Central Government, becomes inevitable”.

“In the recent controversies, as per newspaper reports, the Governor taking interview of the academicians being considered for the VC positions recommended by a duly constituted high power search-cum-selection committee is unheard of and it casts a shadow on the expected transparency of the entire process. Also, the appointment of the VC in contravention of the provisions of the University Act goes on to prove that every effort was done to plant a political protégé in the institutions of higher education.”

“Even if Chancellorship is given to the CM instead of the Governor, the VC-ship would not be non-apolitical. What we need is an alternative mechanism, wherein the matters of selection of VC should be given to some senior well-recognized scholar or scholars of the region. A collegium of experts of the region should be formed, which then is given full autonomy and to make selections for VC-ship. A serious institutional architecture needs to be built so that institutes do not become playgrounds of electoral politics.”

Ashutosh Kumar, Political Science professor, Panjab University, said a governor is the constitutional head of a state.

“Like the President, he/she takes an oath to protect the Constitution and is supposed to be apolitical. CM is an active politician who is elected. In usual circumstances, the Governor accepts the Bill passed by the state Assembly but the Constitution also empowers him to withhold his assent or reserve the bill or refer the matter to the President in extraordinary cases,” Kumar pointed out.

Kumar said, “This bill is not only going to affect the post of chancellor but also [that of the] vice-chancellor and make universities a political circus. Because even for appointments of V-C, it is the Governor (who is also ex-officio Chancellor) who appoints the screening committee on the advice of the council of ministers”.

“The Governor is supposed to act apolitical and unbiased without towing any party line but in some cases, it doesn’t happen so. Now in Punjab when CM will become Chancellor, the entire political game will be out in the open as even the V-C will be referred to as the ‘CM’s handpicked person’ as the CM always belongs to one political party. The bill is not in good spirit as now VC would also be seen as a political appointee.”

However, Ameer Sultana, Women Studies professor, Panjab University, said “it is good that the CM should be the chancellor”.

“I believe if the CM is the chancellor, the working of the universities would be smooth. CM is elected and the Governor is appointed by the Centre. Or you appoint a pure academician as Chancellor or the VC. But that is not possible in our system”.

“In private universities, people with solid backgrounds hold the sway without any academic background. The entire system of higher education has to be changed. It calls for complete overhauling. If the same political parties were not in power both at the Centre and the State it will always cause gross financial problems,” added Sultana.

Echoing Sultana’s views, Professor Rabinder Sharma, a former fellow of the PU senate, said the development to restrict Governor’s power as Chancellor is “very positive”. “We understand the chief minister’s powers could also be misused. We welcome the Vidhan Sabha decision [regarding the Amendment Bill]. At the same time, we feel that academicians should be empowered to select the Chancellor.”

Jagtar Singh Gill, a former Punjab Engineering College professor, said, “It is about maintaining the autonomy of the universities and chancellors should be credible and of standing. Merit should be given the weightage.”

On the other hand, H S Mehta, a retired professor, offered a different point of view. “The Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court should head Panjab University Council comprising of about a dozen senior professors to choose the chancellor,” he said.