Social crusaders like Kanhaiya Kumar have mastered the art of outrage. They are forever in dissent mode
lawlessness, hooliganism and melodramatic innuendoes, being used in the so-called fight for the poor and the downtrodden, have become the biggest tool to make a quick career in politics.
Ironically, those who make the loudest noise seldom care for the cause that they are espousing. For these people, charity never begins at home. Another characteristic of such people is that they do not believe in generating resources but keep on complaining about the fact that they do not receive enough from the establishment or society.
Social crusaders like Kanhaiya Kumar, the president of the students union of Jawaharlal Nehru University, who is currently facing sedition charges in the aftermath of offensive sloganeering on campus, have mastered the art of outrage. They use their skill of oratory to remain constantly in denial and dissent mode and push a policy of confrontation.
Just like it is believed that ‘bad boys’ get more attention from the girls, a seditious non-conformist seems to rise faster on the ladder of popularity than the average, law-abiding, hard-working citizen.
In a densely populated country like ours, it is easy to arrange big crowds at the drop of a hat. If nothing else, these gatherings provide good entertainment. Public memory may be short, but those who manipulate public memory are catapulted to politics.
Also, advancements in communication technology are double-edged swords. On the one hand, it is now easy to make audio-video proof available to everyone, on the other, there is little guarantee that the material being shared as proof is genuine. As a result, the ‘proof’ is often easily dismissed or ignored. Notably, most forensic labs are privately-owned. This makes indictment in court and punishment a lengthy and difficult procedure.
Moreover, the sedition laws in our country are old, going back to the British era, and were never reformed. There is an immediate need to re-visit them and remove the legal ambiguities. Terms like ‘fundamentalism’, ‘terrorism’, ‘patriotism’, ‘revolution’ and ‘nationalism’ are often deliberately used with overlapping expressions, to confuse masses at large.
Union Minister for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh’s assertion, that any one raising anti-India slogans and questioning the country’s unity and integrity should be booked for sedition, needs to be institutionalised quickly.
Jawaharlal Nehru University boasts that 60 per cent of its students are from villages all over India and that they are from the marginalised sections of society. This is the prime reason for JNU to project itself as a martyr. This also allows the university to continue its so-called fight for the under-privileged.
The university spends Rs2.3 lakh on each student per year out of the total Rs163 crore grant that it receives from the Government every year. The big advantage for Phd students is that they can continue to stay indefinitely in heavily subsidised hostel accommodation and enjoy canteen food for a pittance.
Most of the JNU leaders who call themselves revolutionaries and hold demonstrations, are research scholars, living on campus for as long as five to 10 years, and enjoying the comforts of a rehabilitation centre.
In this writer’s opinion, there should be a time limit for students, especially residing on campus, to complete their Phd studies. Once that period expires, the students should be asked to fend for them selves — only library facility can be allowed.
The Government gives soft loans to bright students, who can repay the loan after they start earning. The grant given to JNU comes from tax-payers’ money. As a tax-payer, this author believes she has the right to know and have a say in how her money is being spent. She isn’t interested in subsidising lawlessness of any kind.
Unfortunately, the adversaries of the ruling party are supporting anti-national elements for political gains. Do they not have a conscienceIJ Are we not heading towards another ugly milestone of political degradationIJ