IIt was game as usual for a section of rabidly anti-national goons in Jawaharlal Nehru University till the nation at large decided to call their bluff and punish the guilty in spite of the tremendous clout these loonies wielded with media and the Congress-Left opposition parties in the country. In fact, February 9 events on the JNU campus would have gone unnoticed with scores of other treacherous and provocative incidents in the past but for some alert media persons and the patriotic segment on the campus who videographed the Afzal hanging anniversary, which proved yet another occasion for the fifth column in the country to display their unpatriotic sentiments.
Now nobody can deny that anti-national slogans were raised in the guise of protesting Afzal hanging. What is surprising is that the ideological and political leadership of the Congress-Left animosity to the Narendra Modi government at the centre has now slipped into the hands of Maoist-Jihadi elements who had so far been in the shadows.
The recent ruckus has naturally brought focus on the academic quality and output of the university. The Government of India gives Rs 256 crore in grant, which works out to approximately Rs 3 lakh per student. JNU tops in cases of sexual harassment among 104 universities in India. JNU does not even figure among the top 200 best universities in the world.
Recently, the university introduced the system of checking research thesis for plagiarism after several cases of cheating came up. This was resisted severely by the faculty and students. However, the checking has revealed the poor quality of work, as several of them failed in the plagiarism test.
In long term, this round of ruckus may do more good to JNU than we can see now. With media glare and demand for public audit, the academicians and students of the university have an opportunity to put things straight and make a fresh start.
Beyond the din and noise of the JNU protest lurks the fear of the Communist parties. For all shades of Red, college campuses have long been the hunting ground for recruits.
Over the years, their recruitments have been dwindling. With the thumping victory of the BJP and NDA, backed fully by the young voters, the Communists sensed, for the first time since India's independence, that they were on a retreat.
The leftists have been riding piggyback on the Congress all these years. During the Nehru days, the Congress probably had more prominent socialists and Communists in its ranks than these parties. They had complete hold over the academic institutions. Though the BJP-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad is the largest students' union in India, it hardly ever enjoyed the pre-eminent position that was due.
The BJP victory has given a major boost of confidence to ABVP. Where they looked on with consternation earlier, they are aggressive now. Unlike the previous NDA (coalition) government under Atal Behari Vajpayee, this government is essentially a BJP government and has that much more control and ease in taking decision.
It is this that has unnerved the anti-Hindu, rabid Communist forces. They have been stoking fire on campuses one after another. FTII, IIT-Madras, Hyderabad University, and now JNU. There is a common element in all these instances. And that is the loud anti-Modi, anti-BJP and now anti-India stance. By this unwittingly, the Left and the Congress have handed over the nationalist platform completely to the BJP.
