Politics and political partisanship is the last thing that should poison the atmosphere at the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU). The NEHU Students’ Union (NEHUSU) is right in warning political forces, in this instance, the Voice of the Peoples’ Party (VPP) from interfering into what is an internal matter of the University. If the Shillong MP had come in his capacity as the people’s representative who could also put pressure on the central government to take action to defuse the crisis, it would have been a separate matter. The problem arises because several letters addressed to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the President of India who is the Visitor of the University have remained unanswered even while the students’ hunger strike the questions arises as to whether things can be allowed to further deteriorate or for the State Government to step in and speak to the Education Ministry citing loss of precious study hours and classes at a crucial juncture in the life of students when exams are nearing. The mental turmoil of the striking students can only be felt by those who have been carrying the burden for the past four days with some students being admitted to Civil Hospital Shillong.
On Friday the NEHU Teachers’ Association and the Meghalaya Tribal Teachers’ Association (MeTTA)met Governor CH Vijaya Shankar who is the Chief Rector of the University to apprise him of the situation. The Governor has given a patient hearing and it is expected that he would take up the matter with the concerned department in Delhi and even with the Prime Minister and President. This stalemate cannot continue without matters reaching a point of no return. The fact that the Vice Chancellor has shown no empathy with the student’s fast and only much later deigned to address the striking students, but is unwilling to budge from his position, only shows that he is being supported by forces he knows will bail him out of the present predicament. The example of Manipur where the death of over 300 people and a continued impasse has continued for over a year even while the Central Government looks the other way is enough indication that what happens in India’s North East is the least of its concerns. This is a disturbing trend that the people of the region should be exercising their minds on, cutting across political party lines. Politics cannot be allowed to divide the people of this region as there are serious consequences in doing so.
Politics is an indispensable part of a democratic system but it should not enter the premises of a University, any University in fact. All appointments from the Vice Chancellor down to the lowest rung of the administrative staff should be transparent. Merit should be the only criterion and not affiliation to any political ideology. That NEHU has come to this point in its history shows how political interference in appointments of vice chancellors has soiled the academia.
