Where the mind is ensnared in fear...

Allow me to state the obvious: a university is a place of learning. A good university teaches more than what the curriculum demands — it exposes youngsters to new ideas, encourages them to develop into a responsible, aware, intellectually free people. Every time this sacred space is defiled by bigotry it makes us less healthy as a nation, less free as individuals.

Sadly, with the blossoming of identity politics and chauvinism in India, we frequently see such sullying. The swift withdrawal of Rohinton Mistry’s Such a Long Journey from Mumbai University’s syllabus is the most recent example of this steady narrowing of our intellectual space.

Bal Thackeray’s grandson was sent to university to get an education. This brave act by our first family of fascism exposed the poor dear to all kinds of dangers, including good literature, which brandished the threat of an open and critical mind.

He quickly focused on Mistry’s internationally celebrated 20-year-old book, declared that it made derogatory remarks about the Shiv Sena, and energised his family’s private army. The Sena flamboyantly burned copies of the book, demanding its withdrawal from the syllabus. With amazing efficiency and disregard for due process, vice-chancellor

Rajan Welukar struck it off the curriculum, and all colleges fell in line. Then Maharashtra’s Congress chief minister Ashok Chavan supported the withdrawal — Mistry’s language was objectionable, he said.

But civil society was outraged, particularly by the VC’s genuflection to the Sena and the passive submission of the teachers. A liberal democracy is not expected to surrender to mob censorship. The autonomy of academic institutions was at stake, endangering free thought and expression. So is Welukar a right-winger out to censor free thought? Or is he an opportunist who believes the future is saffron? Or just a coward? I have no idea. But given the scenario in certain states, I wouldn’t be surprised if an apolitical, liberal VC did something similar.

After all, the state offers very little security when constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and expression are attacked by politically controlled mobs. Maharashtra has excelled in capitulating to fascist identity politics. Priceless manuscripts were destroyed in 2004 when the Bhandarkar Institute in Pune was vandalised by the Sena, protesting one anecdote in James Laine’s book on Shivaji. Even now, a pliant state government will not allow the book to be sold, despite a Supreme Court
order. And 95-year-old MF Husain is still in exile because the government cannot guarantee his safety at home. Many of his works have been ruined by the Hindutva goons, his home and studio vandalised, and there are rewards on his head and his drawing hand.

Or take the case of Shivji Panikkar, former Dean of Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda. He was suspended in 2007 for
opposing the illiberalism of university authorities and supporting the right to free expression of a student whose art had offended Hindutva goons. He has not been reinstated yet, in spite of the outrage of civil society or requests from academic institutions.
Standing up for freedom of expression is necessary, but can you risk your career, the academic treasures of your institute and your personal safety for it? Is it prudent to claim your rights when the government allows mob sentiment to override constitutional guarantees?