Tryst with Nehru

The central government of India is ceaselessly after the students. The universities, and Nehruvian ideas and institutions. These constitutional patriotic minds. Autonomous institutions make India, a beautiful country. The news reports, in the worst times of deadly Covid-19, of the students being charged under UAPA in Delhi, are too painful.

Like us, students had democratically opposed the unconstitutional citizenship amendment act, NRC, and NPR. This act of going after the students gives us a hint of what Amit Shah, the home minister of India, is up to and keenly interested in. His priority is not fighting the Covid-19 but charging students under the amended draconian law.

The unconstitutional amendment is a result of the brute majority BJP has in the parliament. It excludes one religion and atheists and suppresses secularism- the soul of India, and therefore violates the basic structure of the constitution and some articles.

Some of the members of the ruling party, on national television, have said that JNU must be shut down. Jawaharlal Nehru University is one of the premier universities in the world. The members of BJP are constantly spreading false propaganda against many universities. Why BJP have matters with the university? The reason for these trifling attacks could be the idea of India. Not anyone but Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru would tell us, why?

The first Prime Minister of Independent India, Shri Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who was very fond of kids and students, in a visit to the then Poona University, and now Savitribai Phule Pune University, beautifully stated the tasks of the university.

He said, “The University stands for humanism and tolerance, for reason, for an adventure of ideas and for the search of the truth. It stands for the forward march of the human race towards even higher objectives. If the universities discharge their duties adequately then it is well with the nation and the people.”

These golden words of Nehru built India greatly. These are not mere words. These are the principles on which our nation stands united and more efficiently. We admire his commitments. Nehru pointed out that the university should instill humanism in the students and train them to be more tolerant. He wanted to provide us with the reason. The expression ‘the search of the truth’ is what India requires now.

In the last six years, we have seen a number of debates and hashtags for and against all these principles. Eventually, the students came out to protect the Constitution of India and its democratic fabrics. The ruling dispensation found it unmanageable to cow down the agitation carried out by the students of universities and therefore, with the help of godi-media sponsored so malicious and hateful propaganda against the students.

The Modi led government might try hard but our tryst with Nehru and democracy is unshakeable and unbreakable. The adventure of ideas and the search for truth will inevitably continue to march forward for the betterment of the human race and higher objectives.

On the 27th of May, I pay tribute to him.

The opinions expressed in the article are the personal opinions of the author.
Author: Satish Gore is a State Secretary of Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress.