Sedition row is part of battle to control universities

With India's Jawaharlal Nehru University, or JNU, Students’ Union President Kanhaiya Kumar being charged with sedition, opinion across the nation stands divided over what constitutes 'sedition'. The issue has snowballed into a political slugfest.

Against the backdrop of the JNU incident, Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, Member of Parliament Subhash Gautam wrote a letter to the Aligarh Muslim University vice-chancellor on February 24 asking him not to allow anti-national acts – like the one organised on JNU campus – on its campus.

The BJP lawmaker was probably concerned that students of a minority institution could indulge in anti-national activities.

On February 9, an event was organised on the JNU campus against the 'judicial killing' of Afzal Guru, held responsible for an attack on the Indian parliament in 2001. Allegedly, the participants in the event extended their support to Kashmiri separatists and raised anti-India slogans.

A section of the JNU staff and students as well as students in some other parts of the country were not happy with Kumar's arrest.

Opposition Indian National Congress and left-aligned parties dubbed it an authoritarian measure. They said the government cracked down on the students because it didn't agree with their views on Afzal Guru and Kashmiri separatists and couldn't tolerate dissent.

Congress Party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP government of bullying the esteemed institution (JNU) which is acknowledged as a breeding ground for Indian left-leaning politics.

“The right to dissent and debate is an essential ingredient of democracy,” said Gandhi via Twitter.

Gandhi said the BJP was following the agenda of creating division and hatred. He alleged: “BJP has no respect for the nation's diversity and culture. They find terrorism everywhere, even in universities and brand anybody who does not agree with their views as terrorists.”

However, the Union Government defended the action against Kumar. While clarifying that the government had not branded JNU as an anti-national institution, India's Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu averred that those indulging in anti-national activities won't be spared. He said no-one should politicise the JNU issue. To gain political mileage, some people are defending anti-India demonstrations, Naidu said.

Meanwhile Bahujan Samaj Party chief Ms Kumari Mayawati said last month in a press statement that the government was trying to promote and glorify the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS. BJP is regarded as the political wing of the RSS, and a large number of the BJP cadre have a Sangh background.

RSS is a right-wing Hindu nationalist organisation. Its ideology is based on the establishment of a Hindu nation and the revival of ancient Hindu identity.

The Bahujan Samaj Party is a national political party in India and has its main base in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The party claims to represent historically disadvantaged communities including the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes as well as minorities.

Dividing students

Independent political analyst ND Sharma who appears in political debates over India's news channels feels that the way BJP handled the JNU issue served to divide the students on communal lines.

According to Sharma: “The ruling BJP wants to make its presence felt in the higher education institutes which have been allegedly mainly controlled by people of left or secular mentality. This is a part of the BJP agenda to ensure a domineering position for a students’ wing of the party – Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad – in educational institutions.”

Rasheed Kidwai, journalist and author of a biography on Sonia Gandhi, also feels that whatever happened in JNU couldn't be called sedition.

He said: “Debating is a vital part of a democratic society. In a polarised and fragmented society like India, there is constant need to engage with each other and contest ideas about the common good. But the country deserves much more than acidic exchanges.

“Unfortunately, neither the government nor the opposition took a mature and dignified stand on the JNU issue.”

Nevertheless, the BJP has to a large extent succeeded in winning the support of the student community at least in BJP-ruled states. Students in these states were mobilised to protest against what happened at JNU.

In New Delhi, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, or ABVP, organised a march over the issue on February 24. ABVP members demanded stringent action against the accused in the JNU issue. Students shouted slogans and carried placards and banners. Similar protests were held in other parts of the country.

A student belonging to Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology in Bhopal said: “We don't support anti-India activities and don't support Kanhaiya [Kumar]. The JNU students and those supporting them are acting against the country's interests. We take strong exception to the kind of slogans raised during the event in JNU. We stand solidly behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

While the JNU students in Delhi demanded that sedition charge against Kumar be dropped, the ABVP organised demonstrations against the JNU student leader in Delhi and other parts of the country, especially in BJP-ruled states. In cities like Bhopal, Raipur and Jaipur – all in states ruled by the BJP – the students organised demonstrations under the leadership of ABVP in the last week of February.

Enforcing ideology

Critics say the central government is trying to enforce its ideology on the student community by mobilising students through programmes supported by RSS, like celebrating the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda and MS Golwalkar – Golwalkar was the second Sarsanghchalak or supreme leader of the RSS – and the JNU episode should be seen in this light.

Initially students and intellectuals all over the country saw Kumar's arrest as a repressive measure and attack on freedom of expression. But the ABVP organised rallies against Kumar.

A professor at India's Aligarh Muslim University, or AMU, on condition of anonymity said that the government is trying to have greater say in the affairs of even minority institutions. Although this is a different issue, it shows how government wants to take control of Muslim higher education institutions.

Recently the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development recommended the names of Rajat Sharma and Vijay P Bhatkar for the AMU executive council. Prominent journalist Rajat Sharma is an RSS proponent, while Vijay Bhatkar is a member of Vijnana Bharati – an RSS-linked organisation.

The AMU executive council has 28 members and the ministry recommends three members for the council. The president of India is the chancellor of all central universities and the AMU executive council members cannot be appointed without his approval.

The president asked the Union Government to recommend some more people for possible appointment as AMU executive council members. It is unlikely that Sharma and Bhatkar would be reconsidered for the position.

This is significant because the government wants to see Sharma and Bhatkar included in the executive council of the university. If they are included in the executive council, then they may push forward the RSS agenda and ultimately divide the university on communal lines.