The Struggle for a Secular Future: Nehru’s Vision and Its Modern Challenges
Months after India gained independence, the country was still engulfed in extreme communal propaganda and violence. Weeks before Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu communalist, Jawaharlal Nehru delivered a powerful convocation address at Allahabad University, emphasizing the importance of a secular, democratic India. He spoke of universities as "temples of learning" where humanism, tolerance, and reason should reign supreme, and where religion should not interfere with the nation’s political and economic life.
Nehru’s vision was to create independent institutions of learning across the country, many of which have since achieved global recognition. His university, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), in New Delhi, embodies his ideals. JNU, established shortly after Nehru’s death, has consistently strived to institutionalize his ideas of fearless independent thought, a scientific and secular ethos, and equal opportunity for all students, including those from marginalized backgrounds.
However, this education system is now under attack from the Hindutva ecosystem, led by figures like the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha. Since the BJP came to power in 2014, articles in Hindutva journals have sharply criticized JNU, which has been ranked as the top university in the country. In February 2016, JNU came under an orchestrated attack, with students like Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, and Anirban Bhattacharya arrested and jailed. The campaign to vilify the university and crush dissent has intensified, with faculty and students targeted for their views.
Despite these efforts, JNU students and faculty have continued to fight back. Over 200 cases were filed against the university in Delhi High Court, and most were ultimately won. However, the cost has been high. JNU’s time-tested, inclusive admissions policy has been scrapped, and faculty recruitment is now based on lists provided by the government. The government has also abandoned previous norms for appointment of chairpersons, deans, and other senior positions.
The attack is not limited to JNU. Delhi University, with one of the best undergraduate programs in the country, is also under threat. Universities like Jadavpur, Jamia Millia, AMU, BHU, and even IITs, IIMs, and ISER-like institutions are facing government interference, resulting in a shrinking of their academic autonomy. Syllabuses are being framed by the UGC, which was supposed to be only the funding agency. The ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad), the students’ wing of the RSS, can now determine what can be discussed in a university and who can be invited there to talk. The government now wants to control not only what you say in Indian universities but also what you might say abroad.
Prof. Apoorvanand, a critic of the government, was denied his rightful turn to become the head of the Hindi department of Delhi University. More recently, he was denied permission to proceed to the US on invitation from the New School in New York on grounds that he refused to submit the script of his talk for vetting by the home ministry. This must be a new low: never before have faculty in Indian universities been asked to get their talk vetted by the home ministry or their views approved by the ABVP.
Nehru’s words still ring true: "How, then, will a nation prosper or a people grow in stature?" The temples of learning, once the "home of humanism, tolerance, and reason," have indeed become "a home of narrow bigotry and petty objectives." The struggle for a secular future continues, and millions of students prefer to go abroad for a decent education. Those who cannot afford it must make the most of a dying public education system or suffer a rapacious private sector that the government will nudge and support.
