As an Indian student, with graduation from one university in a state and postgraduation from other in another state, has provided a distinct and clear cut view to see happenings occurring in society.
I fully owe the experience, understanding, knowledge and whatever critical thinking I possess to the azile university campus life.
In both the phases, I am fortunate to have faculty, seniors, classmates and batchmates with whom I learnt a lot and developed a vision of life.
But that phase is over. Now, When I am observing the environment of both the universities in which I have studied, politicisation of education and institutes is visible.
For the Indian education system and students this is not an alien phenomenon or experience. But, in fact it has deep root in the history. Everytime, when a new leadership with new set of ideologies, thoughts and different ideas come in the power it try to grab the space inside the campuses.
Despite all the politics in the campuses, discourse in the campuses has survived throughout the life of the varsities. And even, before the independence when the Raj was ruling the Indian diaspora the debates, discussion, discourse and protest were part of the campus life.
Some of the faculty even at that time ,when the most brutal force was at helm , had not succumbed to rulers pressure and spreaded the nationalistic thoughts and values among students.
But, now it is very disappointing to see that the politics has moulded the character of people of society up-to such an extent that faculty is also divided in the different wings . And the most shocking thing is that they are behaving like the spokesperson of the respective party to which their set of thoughts match. Some of them are not more than opportunistic, who behave as a partyworker to get undue favour from their political masters.
Following the line of their masters they also, tries to resist every attempt of dissent in voice by any of the student. Even they try to restrain exposure of the student. So, that student may get caught into the vicious cycle of the propaganda and destroy the development of critical thinking and approach in them. This may seems fruitful but it has an everlasting negative impact on the character of the society.
The spark of the fire, which will break in the future can be seen in the assassinations, rejecting the voice of marginalised, homogenisation, chest thumping, political bashing and many more.
Now, the society has to decide the path which it has to follow .