JNU: Dr Pandit Will Have To Win The Trust Of Students And Teachers
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By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-02-08 14:52:27
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The India Commentary view
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Professor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit has become the first woman and the first ex-student of the university to become the vice chancellor (VC) of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), one of India's finest institutions of higher learning. She assumes charge at a time when JNU is battling the ghosts of the recent past when conflicts between students, teachers and the administration made it the most turbulent phase in its history. In fact, the phrase used to describe some students of JNU (during events organized to protest the hanging of Afzal Guru) - "tukde tukde gang" - finds a daily echo in Indian politics with PM Modi using it a couple of days ago in Parliament to discredit the Congress party. The right between the Left and the Right has ripped the campus apart and learning has suffered immensely in the last six years.
Professor Pandit has declared her priorities - "the focus would in constructing Indo-centric narratives" even as the university would "strive to implement NEP 2020 the vision of our Hon'ble Prime Minister especially in interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary areas of studies", she said in a press release.
The task before Professor Pandit is not easy. She has to bring JNU back on track after the disturbances of the past six years and the controversial tenure of her predecessor M Jagadesh Kumar (who has been made the chairman of the UGC). Although every VC has her or his own idea and plan about how best to run a university, since the JNU is a melting pot of diverse, and sometimes extreme, political thought, the new VC will have to ensure that no one is discriminated against due to her or his political leanings and learning does not suffer further. There is no doubt that the office of the VC is a political appointment and the right-wing leanings of Professor Pandit are well documented. But her academic brilliance cannot be questioned. Hence, it is now upon her to treat her elevation as a challenge and restore the lost glory of her alma mater.
