Demanding a National Commission on Partition

To the Hon'ble President of India,

Partition of India was one of the most tragic incidents that the world has witnessed in the recent times. A decision of partitioning India on religious grounds was taken by colonial rulers in association with some representatives of the colonized India. They succumbed to the divisive forces and let the country bleed in a manner that has no parallel in the modern times. As a direct consequence to this, the number of persons killed was more than five times of those killed in the combined two atomic explosions in Japan. According to some realistic estimates, around 20 lac citizens were killed and almost 2 crore persons were adversely affected. In a horrifyingly short period, many citizens got unwillingly and forcibly displaced; many lost their bread earner; others lost near and dear ones; or lost their livelihood and ancestral as well as their self-earned property. Life of around close to five percent of the population was pushed to hell with a single decision of partition. The entire nation suffered and continues to suffer on account of its aftermath. Unfortunately, a nightmarish experience of even such a huge magnitude has failed to get the attention that it deserved from the post-partition India. 

Our country can hardly afford another such trauma. But did we do something to prevent another such horrifying experience? Did we ever make any serious attempt to analyze the reasons that led to this disaster? I am afraid, we have done little in this regard. Quite contrary to this, in fact, India seems to have adopted a policy to keep an ostrich-vision on this. To make the situation even worse, this incident has been often ‘misused’ politically to indulge into a superficial blame game. In the absence of any serious investigation report or findings, it is allowed to get twisted and manipulated to suit anyone. Initially this was misused to create an environment against the potential opposition to the ruling government in the independent and democratic India. Officially and constitutionally, the nation has either avoided to find out the reasons that built up the atmosphere wherein partition seemed inevitable or has simply forced the country to accept it as an unavoidable and legitimate fate. With our policy of accepting the partition in this manner, we have indirectly, almost legitimized partition. 

The nation has avoided to find out a probable connection of the demographic imbalance with this tragedy. We have never bothered to see the connect between the rise of an intolerant monotheist religion with this or the connection of our loss of history; wrong choices of heroes and refusal to acknowledge our unique open ancient tradition - with the tragedy that the nation went through. Instead, we were encouraged to live in a hallucinations artificially created by a skewed and wrong understanding of 'secularism'. This helped in developing an attitude of evading uncomfortable questions. And this might have emboldened the divisive forces and shown them a way to go for another kill.

Last year, the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, gave us some hope in this regard when it was announced that the nation will observe August 14 as the Partition Horrors Remembrance Day.

As the next logical step, we the citizen of India, urge you to form a National Commission on Partition to investigate and find out the reasons that led to partition and advise the government accordingly, so that timely precautions are taken in this regard and the nation feels assured that this will never recur again.

Signed by citizens of India

Please sign the petition by visiting the following link

https://chng.it/YPqdWGStHp

How to address the issue of ‘Marital Rapes’

Those who consider ‘marriage’ as an instrument to provide legal protection for indulging into acts of exploitation are not fit to own up the responsibility of an institution as sacred as ‘Family’. However, it is also the duty of the society and the law to understand that ‘Family’ is an institution that helps individuals in broadening one’s vision. It helps an individual in acquiring some basic but necessary qualities of becoming a mature and civilized person. While for many, marriage may be a static contract, in Indian context - it is a 'Samsakara' in our tradition.

‘Contract’ is an agreement between parties who are trying to explore something bigger but with an assurance to get a relief when asked to make a compromise beyond what it was initially agreed upon by all. 'Samsakara' however, is process that helps you to prepare yourself for making changes and getting better equipped for facing some aspects of life that were unknown for you till that stage. It is an act of indulging into an affair where an unwritten contract is dynamically and continuously being improved with time. This ever-evolving contract keeps on continuously changing itself when some new circumstances are faced, whose possibility was not even imagined initially. It makes up your mind to keep on discovering and exploring your limits to keep the 'family' - that includes (him)herself - alive, contended and happy. Those who pass through this 'Samsakara' and indulge into ‘Vivah Ashram’, learn the most vital human quality of finding pleasure in making sacrifices in the interest of others. In a ‘Family’, everyone has some rights while all others have the responsibility to provide the same. While ‘rights’ come to them naturally when others behave responsibly, those who execute their responsibilities in providing rights to others, also find immediate satisfaction and pleasure in doing so by getting fast feedbacks. In Indian context therefore, 'Families' and not 'individuals' therefore, become the natural smallest unit to build up a responsible and civilized society. 

Committing sacrifices and making compromises can find acceptability in any enlightened society but on ‘strict’ legal criteria, these can always be projected as ‘evidences’ of being exploited. Let us not utilize one to destroy the other as both are necessary components to establish a civilized and happy society. It must be acknowledged that 'sacrifices' make an individual compassionate and even immune to depressions. One who has learnt the skill of finding pleasure in making sacrifices for others will always find a way to get out of any depression. 

Those, who are not prepared to make sacrifices for others, must hold themselves back from indulging into ‘marriage’ - a sacred affair in our context. Because ‘marriage’, according to our tradition is a one-way process that is impossible to get reverted. It can potentially leave a permanent psychological scar on individual’s mind. Those who are mentally not equipped to make compromises must think again before indulging into this otherwise they would be unrealistically expecting the other one to keep on making sacrifices and compromises, which will become unsustainable. It is time for the society also, to accept one’s inability for owning up the responsibilities of marriage instead of unrealistically ‘hoping’ a positive and pleasant transformation in individuals on the demands of sustaining a relationship and the institution of marriage after adventuring into this affair. 

‘Marriage’ is not an ‘Adventure’ to be explored. If one is not prepared to make changes to adapt new situations, must understand that they are not prepared for owning the responsibilities of marriage. One of the reasons for more and more individuals finding them not prepared to own up this responsibility - is the absence of training that were otherwise provided to them earlier live, in joint family environments. To make the situation worse, our schooling and the syllabi also neither discuss the importance of the family institution nor builds up a case to protect them. It goes without saying however, that those who have already acquired the wisdom of finding pleasure in making sacrifices for others, also don’t need to pass through the ‘marriage samsakara’ only for this, as they are enlightened saints who are already perfect fit for the society. 

A pervert, who can find pleasure in forcing a choice on the other for an act that is supposed to give pleasure to both is not fit to carry out a responsibility as sacred as ‘marriage’. Citizens who have 'fear of law' do not make them better citizens, they become better only when they develop 'respect for law'. Let the society, the law and the government find a way to spread the awareness about the sanctity and importance of marriage. And till that happens, let ‘marital rapes’ be identified as a ‘good enough’ reason to ask for separation. Merely criminalizing ‘marital rapes’ will only lead to adversely compromising on the sanctity of an institution, as sacred as ‘marriage’. Our task is to find a way to protect 'individuals' and the 'families' both and not one of them at the cost of the other.

The Puzzle of NEP implementation in DU - A possible solution

In order to facilitate implementation of NEP, Delhi University has constituted a small committee consisting of teachers and education administrators. Unfortunately, the committee is proceeding without paying attention to all the necessary aspects that must be taken into account during such an implementation. It must not be ignored that an institution as huge as Delhi University, has made several painful adjustments in the last decade till the implementation of the existing LOCF (modified CBCS) course structure. The university has very frequently been subjected to several half-cooked adventures in the names of Semesterization, FYUP followed by its withdrawal, CBCS and then modification of the same termed now as LOCF.

Fortunately for us, this time the changes are being sought based on a complete document with a well discussed and a nation-wide policy that has a plan and vision to affect reforms in this sector right from pre-nursery level to the higher education stage.

Apparently, some of the members in the committee are known to have expressed their reservations on the possible projections of this National Education Policy and therefore has been working with a preconceived confusions and misunderstandings. These misplaced academic activists are inexplicably convinced that this policy has an ‘undisclosed’ aim of reducing the workload and thereby enforcing abolition of teaching posts. With such a view, they are incapable of visualizing a situation wherein the policy can be implemented without affecting reduction in the teaching strength. I am completely taken aback at their twisted estimates as when a switch from 3 year to a 4 year course should have been ‘normally’ expected to result in increase of workload and requirement of teachers, it is being spread as a measure to reduce the teaching strength. In addition to this, a misleading fear is being allowed to make rounds that introduction of online teaching will force working non-permanent teachers to discontinue their jobs.

To just give everyone an overview of what do I mean to convey, let me work out some average estimate that can give us the confidence that such fears are completely unfounded are in all probably - politically driven.

It will hardly come as a surprise that on addition of one year study to a three-year program an increase of one third workload requirement is only logical to get estimated. However, the fact that the government has also asked the higher education sector to allow some component of online studies for the undergraduate students, it can also not be denied that such a step has a potential to reduce the workload. An intelligent implementor of the policy is thus left with the sole task to use this reduction to balance the requirement of increase in the workload due to an additional year of teaching.

To achieve this, I would suggest a 5-year strategy of implementing this policy. In the first phase during the initial three years the workload must be kept the same by not allowing online teaching. After that in the fourth year when the students will reach their fourth year of studies, some component of online teaching may be permitted in the first year to balance the additional workload requirement for fourth year students. In the fifth year, finally the desired 30 percent online component may be allowed so that it can almost compensate for the entire increased demand of workload due to the introduction of fourth year. This 5 year strategy will provide the education institutions the adequate time to develop some additional infrastructural requirements if any, visualized by them in this process. They will have enough time to plan to deal with any eventuality during this transformation. Meanwhile, all institutions can be assured in this strategy that their strength will remain the same during and after the implementation of this policy and thus they may proceed with their long pending demand of making permanent appointments. After all, the National Education Policy has also emphasized the requirement of having permanent teachers in the education institutions to make them keep their focus on their students as per the expectations of the society.

I am illustrating a table displaying only one of the possible strategies, assuming that with the 4-year course in place, the total credit requirement will jump from 148 to 192. It has been shown that how during the entire 5-year period of implementation, the credit requirements through offline course can be maintained as 148 and the additional requirement of 44 credits can be passed on to the online teaching that will pave the way for the new-age demand of blended mode of teaching and studying recommended for new-age learners and teachers.

After all, when the OBC reservation policy required 3-year for implementation, EWS reservation required 2 year of implementation, nothing should stop us from planning a five year implementation plan for a policy as important as the National Education Policy. NEP can potentially undo the damage caused to the education sector by several short-term and poorly planned reforms over the last decade. Let it be planned in a manner that will ensure a stable workload throughout the implementation period and after it, as per the table shown above.

Teachers poised to reclaim DUTA in 2021

The coming Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) elections are going to be very crucial. Historically, DUTA had come into reckoning after it got the second promotion of readership for the college teachers in eighties as a result of a long strike that continued for more than 80 days. This success also helped University teachers in getting promoted to the post of Professors on a large scale. Some 'conservative educationists' used to run these promoted Professors down by branding them as DUTA Professors. But DUTA has been claiming its glory since then as they could successfully facilitate indiscriminating promotions on a large scale, realized by both the University and College teachers. DUTA became known in the entire country on posting this particular achievement. DUTA activists drew recognition when they ensured that promotions were not denied to almost anyone. Even today, DUTA draws its strength from this anecdotal success story. In the last more than two decades however, DUTA movement could not repeat even a fraction of such a success.

Although DUTA has no such success story since then, it did try to repeat its glorious performance during the struggles against semesterization that ended in failure and FYUPization (Four Year Undergraduate Program) that culminated in a delayed success but this success was far from being as impressive. DUTA’s activism continued in the last two decades but the successes more often than not, used to be on a limited scale. Recently, to save itself from becoming irrelevant, DUTA have indulged into some issues that rarely bothered teachers of DU on a large scale and were more political in nature and substance. DUTA has also been playing around with priorities of issues for reasons driven more by politics than welfare of teachers. Hesitance in picking up the issues of continuing apathy of ad-hoc teachers and then against the insensitive attitude of Delhi Government in granting funds for salaries in their colleges has opened the eyes of the entire teaching community. When teachers were passing through the darkest phase of no promotions, no appointments and no salaries, DUTA kept itself increasingly engaged in other issues that demanded lesser attention than these. The size of such mistaken priorities grew in abundance especially since 2014. Intolerance towards the government that came at the center in 2014, never made DUTA believe in the UGC regulations 2018. DUTA kept on looking for only negatives of the document with a sense of disbelief and mistrust, although there were very few for their discomfort.

Come 2021, and the scenario changed for good this year. The success story of promotions witnessed by the teachers in the era of eighties has got repeated in 2021. In its earlier version, teachers got promoted to the post of Readers, and this time they got promoted to the posts of Associate Professors and Professors in a similar way. That DUTA is finding it difficult to claim this achievement, lies in the fact that they never let the teachers believe in the positive aspects of the UGC Regulations. NDTF (National Democratic Teachers Front), a right wing teachers organization, displayed exemplary confidence in the UGC Regulations 2018 and kept on projecting its unbelievable provisions as realizable when others claimed them to be unrealistic and unrealizable. This confidence of NDTF and its current presidential candidate Prof. A. K. Bhagi that led this dream come true has made them emerge as the real hero in this entire dream-like sequence that is running for almost a year till now. There may have been some failures, but the successes are so enormous that failures have been rendered as aberrations rather than rule. And this has changed the scenario. This has generated a lot of hope and positivity in the teaching community. With NDTF claiming to support ‘regularization’ of working adhoc teachers after running the success show on promotion story, their promises have ignited many hopes to realistic levels. Teachers seems to be in a clear mood to take a plunge, to give their hope a chance and thereby to reclaim the old glory of DUTA. Writing is on the wall and after more than two decades of absence, time is destined to give NDTF its well-deserved and well-earned chance to show its mettle and resolve in fulfilling their promises and hopes.