The University Grants Commission (UGC)’s directive to universities and colleges in the country to install the Union Government’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) logo on their premises should be treated as another attempt to curtail academic freedom, which is already under siege. This is not a one-off incident. Such diktats from the government have been sent to these institutes previously too. Earlier, they were asked to conduct activities such as generating awareness on G-20 meetings and Swachhatha campaigns. As a repeat of such directives, the UGC, in a letter of December 1, required the colleges to create selfie points featuring the Prime Minister.
The aim of the selfie point, according to the letter, is to create awareness among the youth about India’s achievements in various fields, particularly the new initiatives under the National Education Policy 2020. However, such moves aimed at advancing the political agenda of the ruling regime through the universities would seriously dilute the academic institutes’ freedom and ability to follow their agenda of teaching and research that finally generates new ideas.
While the government’s insistence that academic institutes act as carriers of their political propaganda is becoming more trenchant, the concept of universities being vehicles of free thought would fall by the wayside. Ironically, the current ruling establishment is led by those who fought the Emergency of the 1970s — the first attempt to drag independent India towards homogenisation and regimentation of thought. It appears that they are using the same playbook to stifle the higher study centres from maintaining spaces for dissent.
