JNU has been a lifeline for me and a reason for my existence. Therefore, I was shocked when I heard the news about JNU being branded a den of terrorists and combed by the Delhi Police in search of arms and ammunition. What further compounded my worry was the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar, the students union president, on charges of sedition. I was both depressed and livid. I made a few phone calls and came to know that although anti-India slogans had been raised, there was no evidence of Kanhaiya's participation in that. When I heard his speech on social media, I was convinced of this.
Kanhaiya reminded me of the old JNU where students and faculty used to take a lot of pride in their intellectual richness and concern for the down-trodden. Student leaders tat JNU were unlike leaders from other universities. They were intellectuals in their own right, had 360-degree knowledge about world history and society. When I joined JNU, Sachin Tendulkar was not a national sensation and Sunil Gavaskar was still the icon of millions. Marxism-Leninism was still in vogue despite the birth of Gorbachev as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Soviet Union and his glasnost and perestroika to reform the Soviet system from within. China was not a super power and rated a poor country. Mao was still alive.
With all this, the JNU campus reverberated with discussions about politics in far-flung areas like Cuba and Nicaragua. This was when there were no mobile phones. Computers were a distant dream. India was a mixed economy and "open market" was bad language. The world had still not turned into a global village.
The day I joined JNU, I came face-to-face with a cafeteria worker speaking in English and a group of girls who were openly smoking cigarettes. I was nervous when they shook hands with me. I still remember when I was invited to visit Nirula's for the very first time. I was left speechless when I saw "hot dog" on the menu. I had never eaten anything like that and wondered for a long time how to eat it and if it was dog meat. For the first time in my life, I met students from other parts of the country. Most of them were very fluent in English; those who could not speak English suffered from an inferiority complex. Female students used to frequent boys' hostels without any hesitation. Young men and women were to be found together on the Parthasarthi Rocks and
dhabas post midnight.
It was all a big cultural shock for a boy like me from Mirzapur. Within a week, I wrote to my father that I didn't think I would survive there. But I survived for eight years, did my MA and MPhil, and was registered for a PhD when the journalism bug bit me. Today, after a successful stint as a journalist for more than two decades, I am part of a political revolution called AAP. I take a lot of pride that I studied in the most intellectually-superior institute in India. It was JNU that taught me to respect the right to articulate someone's viewpoints despite disagreeing with their thoughts. JNU had a tradition of post-dinner public speeches by guest speakers, mostly in a hostel mess. Everybody was welcome. The only time a speaker was not allowed to speak was when Sitaram Yachury tried to defend the massacre of students at Tiananmen Square by the Chinese army. He was to speak in the Periyar Hostel mess. As soon as he said that not a drop of blood was shed on Tiananmen Square, students booed him out.
After this episode, a large part of the cadre deserted SFI, the student wing of CPM. SFI was the most dominant student party but Tiananmen Square weakened the SFI permanently. The disillusionment with SFI gave way to a more militant left organisation called AISA, the student wing of the CPI(ML). There were other fringe Left organisations, but they were never powerful enough to dominate the intellectual space. The Left does talk about violent overthrow of regimes. The Soviet and Chinese revolutions were violent in nature unlike India, which under the leadership of Gandhiji, did not subscribe to violence as a means of political change. And at JNU, violence was anathema. Anyone indulging in violence was subjected to social ostracism.
In my own hostel, the Periyar Hostel, when a group of students beat up a fellow student, the late-night general body meeting decided to socially boycott them, a call which was adhered to by each and every resident. JNU was a unique place where Marxism made truce with non-violence. Unlike other campuses, women were absolutely safe. They could walk in the most secluded places on campus without being teased, harassed, and harmed. Gender equality and gender security were the greatest boons any educational institution could offer in those days, and I am told that that tradition still continues. Religious bigotry had no place, and intolerance was a word we never heard. Nationalism was very radically debated in public life but nobody questioned anybody's patriotism.
There is no denying the fact that there were a few radical elements espousing the cause of Kashmir's independence or the secession of some North Eastern states. But in my long stay in the campus, I never heard any anti-India slogan even through heated discussions on the issues of referendum and right of self-determination. The RSS and its politics of right-wing Hindutva were firmly rejected. The ABVP was non-existent. They were considered regressive. So were those who talked about radical Islam. It was a campus which was secular to the core.
Today, an attempt is being made to paint JNU in a bad light, to discredit its reputation. This probably is the most serious attack on JNU after the raid by Mrs Gandhi's goons during the Emergency, but I am sure this, too, shall pass, though the scars shall remain. The JNU culture will survive. It was this culture which gave confidence to a boy whose mother earns Rs 3000 per month to contest elections and become the JNUSU president. When I heard Kanhaiya's speech, I felt proud.
Those who are trying to insult the institution will one day feel sorry and isolated. That day is not far.
(Ashutosh joined the Aam Aadmi Party in January 2014.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.