New Delhi :
Educational institutions in India are the centre of knowledge, power and wisdom. At times they have also given us revolutions which has changed the course of history. For that matter one can take cue from JP movement, Nav Nirman Andolan, Naxalbari movement and the anti-mandal protests.
But in recent times, especially under the saffron rule, the course has changed to protests, clashes and ideological rifts.
Let us take a look at the 7 premier institutions of India which were recently marred by controversies:
The student protests in June 2015 at the Indian Institute of of Technology, Madras, (IITM), over the derecognition of the Ambedkar Periyar Study Centre (APSC) may have been triggered by the decision of the authorities to respond disproportionately to a letter from the Union Government. The anonymous letter against the APSC, alleged that the orgnanisation was trying to polarise SC/ST students and spreading hatred against the Prime Minister and the Hindus.
Students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), the country’s premier film education centre, have gone on an indefinite strike since June 12 protesting the Information & Broadcast Ministry’s surprise appointment of television actor-turned-politician Gajendra Chauhan as Chairman of the institute.
The government has said that Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia are not minority educational institutions. In the case of AMU, the Attorney General has argued that this is because it was set up by an act of Parliament, not by Muslims. But critics say this is a narrow reading of the history and background of AMU and JMI.
The University found itself in the eye of storm after Rohith Vermula’s suicide who alleged that Dalits were treated badly in the university. Vemula’s suicide snowballed into a political controversy with agitating students and political parties targeting vice chancellor Appa Rao, MoS Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya and Irani.
The anti-national protests and anti-India sloganeering once again brought the focus back on the most popular university of India. The issue escalated on February 9 students from the Jawaharlal Nehru University organised an event on Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru who was hanged in 2013.
JNU row then spread to Jadavpur University and AMU showing that the Sedition Debate is not going away any time soon.
