Police Action Inside the Campus Simply Cannot be Allowed: Brinda Bose

Newsclick interviewed Brinda Bose, Associate Professor, Centre for English Studies, JNU, on the recent spate of violence inside campuses and the overall state of higher education in India. Bose says that there is a concerted effort now by the public university to hone a certain kind of student who will be a certain kind of citizen - one who will conform to the ideological apparatus of the state. She finds the constant interference of the central government led by the BJP inside academic institutions a continuation of the policy of the previous UPA government. She mentions the inroads made by the social media in the staging of protests and feels that modes of protests such as sloganeering, mass meetings and hunger strikes, though illegal, are taken recourse to only because of a failure in the process of dialogue. She feels that there is a constant fear of the public in the university administration and hence there are knee-jerk reactions of hushing things up by internal inquiries which are seldom effective. It is only when the matters come out in public that efforts are made to work on complaints. The protests by students, therefore, is a mechanism by which matters are made public and the moment when public universities stand the test of a public scrutiny. Bose suggests that instead of working on lowest common denominators such as the CBCS, the government must work on specific strengths and weaknesses of specific universities so that a network is created among universities which can work together.

Rough Transcript:

Souradeep Roy - Hello and welcome to Newsclick. We have with us Dr. Brinda Bose, Associate Professor at Centre for English studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University and alumni, Presidency College. We will be discussing today the use of state violence in public universities and the overall state of higher education in India. Hello Doctor Bose. If we move away from the recent instances of state violence inside several universities; the latest is being Presidency and Burdwan university and before that FTII. If we look at the overall trajectory of higher education in India, do you think that there is a constant effort at homogenisation of all private universities and is the homogenisation of cooperate in character?

Brinda Bose - Public Universities you mean? Yeah, I think there seems to be a decided move over the last few years and I would not restrict to a sudden shift with the change in government, though perhaps certain measures of control and of manifesting this kind of control is changing has changed, but we have seen certainly over in Delhi, at Delhi university for example, and other places over the last five or seven years, at least that, there has been the increase in move towards trying to clamp down on any kind of voices of dissent, of course, but even discussion like closing the space, which seems to be really surprising because university is the space when young adults for the first time get scope to make their ideas sort of felt and hurt and are also beginning to mobilise in ways that will shape their personality in the future so this is the space that they always had and this seems to be particularly bezard in the way that, now state police is constantly being called on any protest, almost on no pretext and it is constantly being said that police cannot come in campuses without authorisation from the administration. So which means that tacit or explicit, there is this move from administration clearly supported by the state. 

SR - Can you explain this with little specificity with your experience in Delhi University?

BB - Yes. Well, I think it came with the idea that there was certain policy decisions that the previous government and then now continuing through the current government at the centre, the Delhi University, is one of the central university in India. The earlier government wasabusing that the Delhi University as 'guinea pig' for the semester system first and then the FYUP which became fairly well known. Instead of generating, one can always have you know, this is unsighted that one always, universities or even governments can decide that there will be reforms brought into education systems that structures will change, etc but what has been constantly pointed to is that, this is always done with a lot of time spend on discussion within the institution that you are going to actually effect the change in and obviously the stake holders as you quote, using the corporate language that is been taught-ed now, of these universities are the students, the teachers along with the administration. So this was never done. So much of all this has been done constantly in secrecy and suddenly decisions are announced, to which take the entire university by surprise and then given the size of Delhi University, 80+ colleges and the large Post graduate system, just logistically, apart from anything else, it becomes impossible to implement immediately.

SR - Is there any concerted effort to make the university more space for this state and the administration and decrease the space for students and teachers and others who really constitute the university?

BB - Absolutely, that seems to be the way that one is moving that the university is now been seen. All those colleges or the entire higher education system is been seen as a space which will actually build a certain kind of student will become a certain kind of citizen, right? Who will need to confirm to the larger, sort of ideological bases of the government in question and again I would say that one is seen even if there are certain specific differences that it is not the prior government was completely different in this kind of move. So this move itself is interesting as well as is frightening because it appears that we are moving more and more away from the idea of democracy.

SR - I am interested in your facing-off certain student will make a certain citizen and in this context I would like to quote from a letter send by the Presidency University to protesting students, one of the protesting student was Amardeep, who was on indefinite hunger strike and the other was against the student who did a creative performance in JNU against the current administration. And I quote from the letter "Your son/daughter has indulged in activities, unbecoming of a student of the Prestigious Indian institution by his/her un-student like behavior has litigated the academic atmosphere of the campus. Some of his actions such that can also specific provisions of the law of the land and render him liable to legal consequences. In-spite of repeated attempts that counseling him was not succeeded, he/she cannot be allowed to hold the entire university to ransom by his/her disorderly contact. It felt that, before the university compel to initiate disciplinary and other actions against him/her in the larger interest, you as a parent or guardian should council him/her. " I will just refer to her few phrases here. ' Student like behavior ' and ' holding the university to ransom '. So this is the new idea of the university sees dissent as ransom. Dissent as that something cannot be allowed absolutely and kind of conformism inherent, which cannot be questioned.

BB - Right, absolutely. There are certain things that have been in the tradition of university, students worldwide through the decades, certainly from the end of the 20th century to 21st; we have seen that there are certain sort of elements of protest like the kharavo for example, like sloganeering, like black badges, like mass meetings ending in kind of statement, general body meeting, etc. An extreme form of it then becomes strike, ending in hunger strike or the kharavo of the administration or head, etc. And these are elements of protests that are recognised worldwide, as of course being illegal in the sense, they are not supposed to be happening but that the whole idea of protest. So the students launch into a protest when dialogues has failed, when there is no space for discussion and dialogues when petitions are made within sort of structures of the institution are not been responded to. So there is already a kind of racketing up of the intensity of a movement by the time, so that then has certain repercussions and certain sort of elements of the way in which the protest is made; performance for example is one. So this is very surprising that, suddenly, because the state obviously in collusion, or the other way around, the administration in collusion with the state, whether it is West Bengal state Trinamool government or whether it is central, is working to take away this possibility in the public institutions which is what is so shocking. 

SR - Since you have been teaching gender for years now, what has been the question of gender inside the campus? Do you think that there has been certain attempt at queering the campus or making the campus more kin or at least more sensible to such issues? or with this rapid new university, the idea of the new university, these issues have been trampled upon even more?

BB - I think there is a kind of contradictory space and stuff that is happening. Certainly there is a greater awareness I would think because of the issues around us, as well the things that has been happening outside of the campus as well as inside. There is a sense, one cannot deny that, I think that is very good thing that, there is a space for complaint, there is a space to demand certain kinds of behavior inside the campus and so there has been a growth in that awareness I would say. I am not certain that universities or administrations have done enough yet to respond. I think student communities and have formed groups, etc, lots of peer groups on campus now, which is an excellent thing. I am not sure that the administration has given even recognition to the presence of these. In as much as the peer group might want a space, you know hall or outside space to perform in; I am not saying that every university has shut-down them, that at least not have happened. But I think there is no official recognition, which there should be by now of gender, groups, etc.

SR - In fact very few GSCASH mechanisms or institutions such as GSCASH which is a recommendation from the UGC guide.

BB - There is a tendency I think still to kind of skirt the issues and there is a fear constantly of the public. You know, the public getting the wind of what is happening inside the campus. So there is a constant consorted effort to hush things up, to make internal inquiries and often internal inquiries are delayed, you know we have seen that is happening in the institutions, until and unless the victim or the complainant goes public. I think social media has worked wonderfully. In different ways media, online media etc to spread the word and some of it has been irresponsible as always will happen. Protest also has been criticised irresponsible. I think these are volatile spaces so mistakes will be made but as long as the voice can be heard, because the voice within the community is closing in.

SR - My final question to you and this goes back to the idea of really penetrating the power of social media in letting us know about newer things. There are several other spaces which is outside this spectrum of the centre for excellence or rich legacy, etc. Such as, say the HP university and the attacks in Burdwan university recently, which have come up to the lights. So do you think that we have to also look out of this rhetoric of great excellence because you cannot allow police action anywhere, whether or not university has had many years of rich legacy or whether it is just newly formed?

BB - Absolutely. I think that without saying social media became great level in this, which is working very well to highlight the spaces that are not apparently in the limelight because media also chooses, sort of primary media as it where, or the media most people access, television channels and newspapers will only go to institutions that already well known so we perpetuate a kind of hierarchy. I think this kind of hierarchisation, of course there is something wrong with it but we cannot do away with it. I think the way to skirt it is, really not to homogenise in the way of bringing down everything to a lowest common denominator, like the CBCS or like the common curriculum or this so called all the new moves that have been brought in or being perpetuated now, but I think the way out this idea of certain institutions been hire ups to begin to concentrate on strengths at all universities and colleges and work on weaknesses but own the strength. So that then eventually there is a kind of network of universities and colleges is that have strength in particular discipline; particular sciences, particular humanities, particular arts and those can be aspired to by students who want to kept the best. Because it is not just possible to have equal sort of strength or competence in every subject in every discipline in every little college; you cannot.

SR - OK, Thank you very much Dr Bose.

BB - Thanks very much.

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