These are ironic times we live in; on the one hand, there’s the question of divide (on the most ludicrous of factors) and on the other, failure at driving economic growth.
In the coming days, our media and press will sink into the atrocity committed at JNU while following with equal vehemence (or perhaps not) the recently released GDP figures – 5%; most sluggish in the past decade. The average Indian will, however, continue their life on cruise control.
Let’s play a game –
Mission: Find “reality” and bring her back safely to join her family – sense.
Rules: do not use CTRL + F
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Difficult?
That’s cause reality got buried in irrelevance. That’s understanding the #JNUviolence.
Events that amass attention and media spotlight are rarely the crux of the proverbial burning bush; it is merely a diversion and most often a successful one.
If you think the JNU incident is a clash between the left and the right, that is exactly the diversion they want you to take. After all, the timing couldn’t be more right; a left vs right is less of a nuisance to deal with than what’s at stake.
It is, in fact, a clash of reasoning vs ignorance that far outspans a mere left-right ideology. This happened at “JNU”; the delegacy of higher reasoning and intellectual assimilation. An attack on this foundation – education, is indecorous at its lowest and immaturity at its highest.
We are at the cradle of a new revolution, one where nihilism and love for ignorance are being paraded as nationalism. And to have an opposing view, or any view for that matter is cause for attracting an anti-national label. As if nationalism were the birthright of only those who follow a particular school of thought. #saddahaq
Democracy has room for more than one point of view, where all parties are entitled to be nationalists. #spoonfeedinglogic
The “what” that is at stake
We are seeing a lot of parallels being drawn with another regime; a European one that managed to breakdown logic, reasoning, democracy and violate human rights at the highest possible level and reduce intellect to the lowest possible. We are talking about the most educated race at the time. And it simply goes to prove what we, as humans, devoid of conscience are capable of.
But the only parallel that should vex us today is the defeat of education.
Victor Frankl, a holocaust survivor, pointed out – ”if we present man with a concept of man which is not true, we may well corrupt him.”
Sounds familiar? We’re in an era where our opinions are biased on WhatsApp forwards. While an excellent tool for instant updates, what is the “nature” of the updates that we are imbibing? If today, the news is reaching the common man, direr is the outreach of fake news and propaganda. There is a fundamental break-down in reasoning and sound-judgement; social media may well be an aggravator.
“I am absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Maidanek were ultimately prepared not in some Ministry or other in Berlin, but rather at the desks and lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers.”
Perhaps the most pragmatic strategy of the Nazi regime was its control of academia. In bringing the berths of knowledge under its influence, Nazis were able to propagate their thoughts at the fundamental level. To control the dissemination of knowledge means to control a generation. They did not need to recruit youths into training camps, they brought the training camps to the youths.
In a study titled “Holocaust and Human Behaviour,” there is a chapter on understanding the National Socialist Revolution; which details the series of events from when Hitler came to power. This gets particularly interesting when we draw parallels on the subcontinent.
- Outlawing the opposition
- Elite guards and secret police
- Shaping public opinion
- Selective targeting
- Controlling universities
- A wave of discrimination
- No space to think
If you think about it, we’ve seen instances of all these aspects within our border. From shaping public opinions through WhatsApp and bot accounts on Twitter to designated local bodies (secret police) commoved to destroy tolerance and induce hatred on divisive aspects. The single most significant facet that made the difference is how educational establishments contributed to the fascist school of thought; the beginnings of which we are witnessing now.
Controlling the university model
One of the first things the Nazis did after Hitler’s appointment as chancellor, was to tackle the universities and root their ideology into the curriculum; they targeted the most prestigious universities.
The newly appointed Nazi education commissar took over the Frankfurt university. This would send a powerful message; having tackled the most confident and liberal German university, other universities of lower stature would surely follow. Sure enough, they did.
Control the myriad viewpoints and erase the duality of opinions; all of a sudden, you have strong-armed an entire generation into submission. The indifference materialising at the gates of our universities is following a similar pattern, nascent in its outlook perhaps, but a similar nature none the less. Not following the Nazi manual, but a shocking similarity clearly.
The academic equation
If knowledge is power, do you know what is equally powerful? Ignorance.
By now we’re all familiar with the rigmarole that took place at JNU; theatrics of events with no conclusive storyline. A blame-game between the left and the right which is appalling.
Remember the “reality” that got lost in irrelevance? Let’s try and look for the needle in the haystack. One question stands out – who were these masked miscreants? It is THE question that matters but the one that is being avoided; which is quite the proof to conclude who they might be.
A question of students
- How is it that a secured university like JNU, where the security contract is with Cyclops, a firm that provides ex-army men, allowed these masked intruders to enter and exit like cars at a petrol station?
- How is it that the Law & Order authorities did nothing while this happened?
- How is it that they are clueless as to who did it even after it happened?
Assuming that this act of vandalism was in fact, committed by radical students, we have a problem. What kind of education is being imparted then?
If these were not students and external forces of political propagation, then again we have a problem. What esteem do our education establishments hold in the eyes of political figures?
A question of Administration & professors
Based on the accounts of various sources both from within and outside the campus, anyone who’s been watching the news unfold would know by now the severe gaps in evasive measures pursued by the university. From calling the police to lodging an FIR, things just don’t add up.
I mean, seriously, what is the first thing a campus under attack would think to do?
What is befuddling in all of this is that some of the professors at JNU also participated in violence against students; as stated by a student of JNU. This is the plight of education at JNU, an icon of higher thinking. The defenders of academia themselves are resorting to violence.
“Has a hike in fees ever seen students attack a college’s server room?”
The question of “what” is at stake here, is a question of the freedom of opinion and free-will.
No space to think – shaping public opinion
At this juncture in our nation’s timeline, where is the national sentiment focused? We’re focusing on all the wrong things.
It is a critical question because if the focus is on the religious threat, anti-nationalism or any such subjective matter, then we are barricaded from investing our attention on topics of factual significance.
- When was the last time you heard on unemployment statistics?
- We are an agrarian economy; what is the latest stats on farmer suicide?
- How much black money was recovered through demonetization? Or better yet,
- How many businesses were shut down as a result of demonetization?
There’s so much contradiction within the government regarding the NRC. No one clearly yet understands or explains the scope and limitations of the “aadhar”. Why?
All this confusion and logical fallacy being spewed out is nothing but an effort to obnubilate the failure of various policies that promised stellar results.
We, as a nation, have failed miserably at economic governance, financial regulation and economic growth. But the bright minds of the country cannot and must not debate on these, for that would be damaging to the reputation.
Instead, the bright minds of the nation are kept engaged and deliberating among themselves over who is a national and who is anti-national.
“Democracy does not die at the hands of tyranny, it dies of ignorance.”
