The newly adopted motto of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi — Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya (darkness unto light) — encapsulates what one of India’s finest public universities has always stood for: A spirit of enquiry, a space to find one’s voice, and the freedom to speak up, in solidarity or protest, and be heard.
In an Idea Exchange with this paper last year, the university’s vice-chancellor, Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, iterated what distinguished JNU from other academic institutions: “It represents what I call the D-five: Democracy, Development, Difference, Dissent and Diversity”, adding, that as an educator, she was not against any narrative as long as the courtesy of space was reciprocal across ideologies: “That’s why I said I’m for dissent, difference and diversity.”
“Anti-national” slogans can draw a fine of Rs 10,000. Impromptu events such as freshers’ welcome parties, that have not been sanctioned by authorities, stand to attract penalties to the tune of Rs 6,000 or community service.
The university administration’s defence in the matter has been that the formalisation of penalties into legalese and fine-tuning of rules have been made in accordance with the Delhi High Court’s directions; most rules have been in existence since the University’s foundation in 1969. Even as the students’ union has come out in protest and members of the university’s Executive Council — that has supposedly formulated the regulations — have voiced their concerns, the VC has reiterated her commitment to student liberties.
Yet, that reassurance seems to pale in the face of this proscription. A university is not merely a place of academic exchange, it is where darkness is illuminated in many other ways. It is a space that is both sanctuary and discomfort, pitting students against their own prejudices and revealing through friendships and antipathy, rebellions and solidarity the boundaries of their empathy for those radically different from them. To restrict that freedom is to consign them to a future of half-lights, dimmed by a fear of authority, settling for a life of conformity. JNU must live up to its commitment to knowledge without fear and alter its stand.
