Wise chancellor

When an institution like the Aligarh Muslim University AMU, which has played a stellar role in Indian academia and society, makes news for all the wrong reasons, it is a matter of immense concern. The reprehensible events of September 8212; when a student was raped and another murdered on campus 8212; had triggered a surge of violence within the university, leaving its vice-chancellor with little option but to close it down sine die.

While it is true that universities are meant to be open spaces for the growth and development of young minds, they cannot function in a scenario where criminals are given free access and vested interests of all kinds are allowed to thrive. Over a period of time, it appears that the historic portals of AMU were thrown open to all manner of goons, whose activities had resulted in seriously undermining more scholarly pursuits and creating conditions for proliferation of crimes ranging from sexual harassment to extortion. Vice-chancellor P.K. Abdul Azis appears to have used the period of the university8217;s closure to evolve a blueprint for reforming the institution8217;s functioning. He now plans to reopen it in a staggered and planned fashion. He has also put in place a regime that may bear the stamp of excessive administrative control but it is certainly warranted at the present juncture. Students and their parents would do well to take his appeal for order on the campus seriously if they do not want recent history to be repeated.

But there is one more important step that8217;s now awaiting the vice-chancellor8217;s attention. It is the responsibility of the university8217;s administration to ensure that those responsible for the incidents of rape and murder, which had rocked the campus, are brought to justice. Only if this is done will the sense of injury that had provoked the student violence in the first place be addressed and a dark chapter in AMU8217;s history brought to a close.