The July 24 bloodcurdling flare-up at the Utkal University campus in which students and non-students were involved in a violent attack brings to the fore an ugly mix of campus indiscipline, petty politics and goons spreading terror in the State’s premier institution.
The trigger of the bloody episode was protest over selection of ABVP leader Prithviraj Dalabehera in entrance test for admission. Dalabehera had allegedly forged a caste certificate last year and had unsuccessfully appeared the entrance test as an SC student. However, this year, Dalabehera came first in the entrance test and that too in general category for the post-graduate courses in commerce as well as library and information science. He had applied for both courses. last year on complaints over his caste, the university had sought a report from the Nayagarh Tehsildar and it was found that his certificate was forged.
The protests over his selection led to attack on two students by unidentified miscreants. Demanding the arrest of the miscreants, on July 25, students of Vani Vihar blocked the NH 5, near Vani Vihar Square at 5 pm for over an hour. They burnt tyres and stopped the vehicular movement. Following the blockade, vehicles from both the sides of the highway jammed the road causing immense trouble for the general public.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Utkal University was one of the best and it was treated with respect at national level. The students of Vani Vihar or Ravenshaw fared well in Civil Services or national level competitive exams. A substantial number of candidates used to get successful. The university was famous for its talented students and good professors. But now, the university seems to have lost its luster. These days a very few Odia students get successful in national level competitions and those who get successful are not students of Vani Vihar or Ravenshaw, but have studied outside. What might be the reason for such a grand stoopingIJ Is it student unrest or poor quality of teachingIJ Whether frequent student unrest disrupts the academic atmosphere or poor academic standard in the State universities leads the students to despondency and disruptionIJ When asked, students union advisor Vani Vihar, Prof Jayant Kumar Parida, said, “I cannot say it is due to student unrest. Student unrest is something else, in which mass students have a common demand. But here a few non-students are trying to dominate the university and foment trouble.”
Parida said, “In our time, there was value-based politics and students used to support a cause. Students were fighting for the cause, but now we have no value in politics. Rather, we are doing politics that is money-based.” Students, who are career oriented, usually are not involved in the dirty politics. Hardly are 10 per cent students of the university interested in mean politics, but they spoil the whole atmosphere, lamented Parida.
Most of the students are taking the university as a platform for their political career and educational institutes are politicised now, said Officer on Special Duty (OSD) of Ramadevi Women’s University Prof Padmaja Mishra. Students in the universities are divided into different groups on the basis of political affiliations leading to group fights.
About student politics in the universities, Utkal’s Psychology department head Prof Namita Mohanty said students who now stand in election do not have organising and leadership quality, or any oratory skills required for success. They force themselves into politics backed by political parties. Another aspect is money. Politics as a career is good, but there is no employability in politics. So, they are funded by the parties and do as the parties dictate, Mohanty added.
Mohanty also said students in past who stood in election were brilliant students; they are now in good positions in society and in their career. But now hardly does a good student involve in student politics. Mohanty suggested that students’ aspiration level and general awareness should be increased. She said that student counselling should be introduced at school level. Good students are migrating to other universities like JNU, Central Universities etc. Some are going for engineering and medical streams.
The reality is the educational institutions of the State have to ensure a healthy academic ambience. Unfortunately few are able to have the same, said Prof Jayanta Parida, adding that this is one of the major reasons why Odia students are not successful in national level examinations. Prof Padmaja Mishra backed saying that students’ orientation has changed now and they have more scopes in different professional courses. Mishra also pointed out that school level teaching is very poor in Odisha as a result of which the students’ foundation is not strong.