Violence in universities: Classroom as the battlefield

Ironic that the actual act of violence is committed by those who claim to oppose the artworks, lectures, or discussions because they create disharmony

Three incidents in the last one week across different states of India tell us that India is now at the mercy of militia affiliated to the network of the Sangh Parivar. Last week, the faculty of fine arts of the Maharaj Sayajirao University (MSU) of Baroda was attacked by a mob led by a syndicate member of the University, assisted by leaders of the ruling party, the BJP, and accompanied by a member of the Hindu Jaragan Manch. This man was responsible for the vandalism at the same faculty in 2007, for the same charges that the students and faculty had created artworks which insulted Hindu gods and goddesses.

I remember the aftermath of the 2007 assault in vivid detail. One of the then students, Chandramohan, and some faculty members, including the then dean Professor Shivji Pannikar faced criminal charges. Some faculty members were suspended, and the whole faculty was shattered. I remember the tense atmosphere of the University. There was fear and apprehension in the minds of the students and teachers. The University did nothing to protect its students and teachers from the goons who had come from outside but were led again by a syndicate member.

Chandramohan was arrested and given bail on the condition that he would not leave Baroda. He was not given his certificate and failed to get any gallery to display his work. He was destroyed as an artist and a person. Prof Pannikkar also had to pay a heavy price. The committee set up to investigate the whole incident after 11 years of work held him guilty of allowing artworks which created social disharmony. His dues were withheld as punishment.

The man who oversaw this as the vice-chancellor now heads one of the most prestigious institutions of this country, the Union Public Service Commission.

As if in a replay, the university has set up a committee. Let us hope that it does not destroy the lives of those who were attacked this time.

Now we find that an FIR has been registered against the student who is supposed to have created the artwork that was allegedly offensive to the complainants. What is interesting and distressing at the same time is that the 'offensive' artwork was not on display anywhere when the 'offended' people rushed to the fine arts faculty. So what was the hooliganism all about? First, the hooligans forced their way into an examination hall. The artworks were produced as part of the examination that the students were appearing in and were to be evaluated. That is precisely what was done 15 years back. Ideally, the University should have acted against the intruders. It did the reverse. It sided with them and attacked its own students and teachers.

The student has now to deal with a legal battle. Will he be left alone as Chandramohan? Chandramohan's life was ruined. The last we heard about him was when he was caught trying to burn down the university office in an outburst of frustration. This student must not be left alone.

We do not yet know the fate of the teaching faculty. Will they be dealt with the way Prof Panniker and his colleagues were treated by the University?

In another examination, in a place in a state that has taken the political path Gujarat had taken more than 20 years back, a teacher faced an attack of a similar nature. The only saving grace here is that the attack was not physical. The attack was on a teacher of political science. He had dared to frame a question as part of the question paper for the examination of the paper on political ideologies. The students were asked to give their views on whether they saw similarities between fascism and Hindutva. The question was seen as an affront to the inclusive ethos of India and was seen as a threat to social harmony. The university immediately agreed and regretted this lapse on the part of the teacher. He was made to pay for this. He has been suspended and an enquiry set up which can be for all practical purposes against him. The affiliation of the attackers is obvious. They belong to the same network to which the attackers of MSU, Baroda, are associated.

The third attack took place at Lucknow University. Dr Ravikant of the department of Hindi was heckled by the members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS, who raised a slogan which has now become the national exhortation of the Hindutva gangs, "desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maro salon ko". He bolted the doors. The ABVP people wanted to enter the room forcibly. Slogans for traitors to be shot continued. When they found that Ravikant publicly expressed his fear that what he was facing was a lynching situation, they felt offended. When they expressed their desire to shoot someone, what was he supposed to do? Not talk about his fear? Allow them to do what they want?

The attackers are demanding his dismissal for a comment he made in a discussion on a news platform on the ongoing controversy around the Gyanvapi mosque. The attackers alleged that he created social disharmony. They themselves started circulating an edited clip of the long conversation, took offence by it, and proceeded to attack him. An FIR has been registered against him. Ravikant is a Dalit. Is it another reason for this violence against him? Fortunately, he got support from the civil society of the city. We also hope that Dalit groups will support him. No such luck for the MSU student and faculty.

It is interesting and ironic that the actual act of violence and discord is committed by those who claim they oppose the artworks, lectures, or discussions because they create disharmony. There is no evidence of the artworks, which were part of an examination process or the question on Hindutva and fascism or the comment by Ravikant having led to any violence in the society. It is this organised group or gang which creates a cause for offence and then decides that it'll get offended, which justifies their violence against the 'culprit'.

Is three too small a number to disturb us? You should not forget the suspension of Dr Gilbert Sebastian from the Central University of Kerala and notices to teachers in some other central universities (not mentioning their names as it might lead to their further persecution)? You have to take a round of the colleges of the University of Delhi and find out if they are holding academic or intellectual discussions the way they used to before 2016. Or even the JNU. Or the Jamia Millia Islamia. Or the AMU or the Hyderabad Central University. The campuses have lost their intellectual verve.

We have not seen any discomfort in the world of art after the attack on the MSU, Baroda. The huge India Art Fair will take place as usual. There is an FIR against Ravikant. Death threats have been issued to him. But there will be silence in the academic world. A teacher has been suspended for framing a legitimate question paper. Yet examinations ll take place across India.

Society watches silently while universities are smothered, bloodied. Militias now rule academic spaces. The only place which used to be secure, the classroom, is being turned into a battlefield. What'll survive this war is not very difficult to say.

(The writer teaches at Delhi University)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.