A Case of Misplaced Autonomy

After the setback of the collective failure of teachers' movement in stopping the semesterisation process, some of us chose to become wiser and accepted the existence of a mutated definition of autonomy and freedom. The apparent freedom and an enviable royal power that the university authorities blatantly exhibited before the teaching community had by then left an everlasting impression on some minds that chose to welcome a twisted sense of autonomy. These people seem to have convinced themselves that the only set of people who can enjoy any kind of autonomy are the university authorities. They preferred to get associated with the University authorities and in the process willingly handed over the responsibility of carrying the flame lighted by 'Rathi' to the other sensible breakaway group. Any trace of doubt in their mind was entirely wiped out when Dr. Bhim Sen Singh, the Principal of Kirori Mal college was shown the door for his dare to impress the university with the autonomy of colleges and the academic freedom of individual teachers through the College Staff Council. A perfect stage was built up to blow another hammer on the real stakeholders of the University to implement FYUP after an illegal salary-cut order was forcibly implemented and an environment was created wherein a simple letter by a hitherto unnoticed post of Registrar could make University Professor shiver, could turn College Principals into mechanical implementer shunning all their urge to behave as advisers and transform other lesser mortals into entities that only waited to obey orders to please the University authorities.

Recent letters from UGC has only helped in showing these University authorities their true place. Suddenly the terror that was being continuously experienced by the teachers shifted on to new targets in the university system. The scare of getting the taste of their own medicine is staring in their faces when conspiratorial denial of retirement benefits by them to a retired teacher on a flimsy ground of misappropriation of funds seems to have been threatening them to choke their own necks. The system has only shifted the target from Bhim Singh/Rajesh Mohan to Dinesh Singh and his team members with UGC replacing the University authorities in the new scenario.

I pity those who are still in their deep sleep and are continuing with their misplaced understanding of the terms such as University autonomy and freedom. They have become so used to the blatant misuse of these terms to crush the popular concerns of teachers and students that they have gone blind and are refusing to see writing on the walls of the university. I wish they come up with some sense in their future pamphlets.