JNU set to display tank, artillery in campus to 'instil' nationalism

New Delhi: Accepting the suggestion of former soldiers about the need to instill nationalism among students, the Jawaharlal Nehru University on Wednesday decided to build a memorial to armed forces personnel, which could include an ‘army tank’ among other artilleries.

The memorial will highlight the sacrifices of JNU alumni and is likely to include a display of a tank and artillery. As per an existing provision, all officers passing out from the National Defence Academy (NDA) receive their degrees from the JNU.

JNU registrar Bhupinder Zutshi said the decision was taken after former personnel of the armed forces met varsity vice-chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar and raised concern over the ongoing controversy in the campus and suggested a few measures should be taken to instil nationalism among students.

“Acting on the suggestion, the university has decided to build a memorial for our students, in future. Sacrifice of the students of JNU will be displayed on the wall of fame with their pictures and a tank, artillery or other things, which inspire nationalism, on display. We are also planning regular interactions between the students and defence personnel,” added Mr Zutshi.

The JNU registrar, however, did not reveal when the construction of the memorial will start. He said that it will built in future. “Place, design and things to be displayed will be decided in the future,” said the registrar.

On Tuesday, a group of retired senior Army personnel, who are alumni of JNU, met Prof. Kumar and they suggested that to instil nationalism among JNU students there should be regular interactions between great soldiers of the nation and the varsity students.

After the meeting, Lieutenant General Niranjan Singh Malik (Retd.) had said that regular interactions between armed forces personnel and the JNU students will help everyone to instil nationalism among students. “Apart from regular interactions, there should be a Wall of Fame where pictures of great heroes are placed or symbols of great acts of Armymen should be displayed. Such a small thing will help us in instilling nationalism among students,” added Gen. Malik (Retd).

The former Army officer had also said that by taking such an initiative, current JNU students will come to know about the sacrifices made by officers in uniform, who had passed out from this university, for the nation.