By Obadiah Lamshwa Lamare
There is always an endless effort to punish the thinking mind and the brave vocal voice. We see it in the streets, we see it in the workplace but the most dismal thing is that we see it in a place of knowledge, learning and thinking. Recently, we have read letters of dissent that voiced the needs of the student community in the University with a potential for excellence, and we have also read letters of apology that retracted the dissent and shifted the blame. Now, we do not know what is happening behind the scenes, but what we should know is that a certain number of Registered Research Scholars and students went to intimidate with an intent to hassle a Professor in his room last week and this was done when the Professor was in the company of his colleagues, some of whom were pushed out of the room. Fortunately, no one got hurt in the incident except for the sanctity, image and the charter of the University.
What happened is a tragedy not only for the teacher concerned but for the student community as well because it seems that we are losing whatever little civility we have. The fault lies not in the fact that disagreements exist but in the fact that learned scholars decided to resort to brutish methods to handle disagreements. There would have been no shame in flooding newspapers and the Professor’s rooms with letters expressing disagreements and criticism, appointments could have been made to meet, discuss and debate with him; but the fact that brawn tactics were used suggest a very grim picture of things. One can always openly argue, disagree and deliberate irrespective of one’s selfless or selfish interests for such are the norms of democracy, but if such practises are not fostered in a Central University then we should question the very existence and foundations of the University. Resorting to cavemen tactics would be nothing but negating the very essence of learning and reason and such practises should be condemned, for though being democratic means being tolerant it does not mean tolerating intolerance.
The purpose of a University is to captain people upwards and forward in the world of intellect but then there is always a strong possibility for it becoming a sinking ship despite the potential that it holds. There is a lot that goes on in the university, and we do not necessarily mean research and new discoveries or new social theories. But that should not come as a surprise for a University is a human situation and institution, at times flooded with thinking minds and at times facing a drought of the same. Therefore, a University will always be home to both the negative sides as well as the positive sides of those who constitute it. However, even if the fortunes of a university are never certain, its purposes remain intact and clear for a dark world to know. The destination of a university can be easily ascertained from its title. A university should be a stream that leads to the universal ocean of knowledge, wisdom and reason, making the lesser world of particular one with the greater world of universality. The Government has instituted a University in this green station with the purpose of making it the light of the entire North-East. Therefore, a University has everything to do with pulling people and society up and nothing about it suggests drudgery and stagnation. But past experiences and even the present situation has all the arrows pointing down to the mud pool.
When a University is seen as a profit making establishment and a seat for enhancing political fortunes, there is a need to worry. However, when people cannot speak against such perversions then there are greater reasons to worry. Regardless of the validity or the fault of one’s stance or opinion, one is entitled to express oneself and no one else can hinder this right. Counter arguments can always be made in a civil manner. The problem is that we take too long to learn and to acclimatise ourselves with the open world and democratic practices. We want to stay locked in a single stage of development, we want to stick to baby steps. Therefore, it seems that a huge portion of the funds spent by the Central Government on the University have been wasted on people who want an easy way out of things and who are suspicious of others who want to develop themselves but who happen to look a little different from them; but that is an entirely different matter.
Our inability to adapt and develop raises the question of us being members of a University! If we continue on this path, our works will accomplish nothing except for stripping future libraries of sense and reason. We will have no story that inspire and unite to tell to future generations who will end up reading our lives as a history of prolonged irrationality, stagnation and immaturity. However, there is hope in action, and we need to move towards that goal for hopefully those younger than us will also be wiser than us. Clearing the doubts in our minds to grasp the reason why a university is called a University and not a Locality would be an essential first step.
For those who insist on carrying on with brutish culture and infecting a Central University with their Jurassic reflexes, they do not know their place, they do not deserve to be in a University and if you think of it, they do not even deserve to be in a museum lest they inspire savagery.
(Obadiah Lamshwa Lamare is a Research Scholar in the Department of Political Science, NEHU)