The beautiful and bald University

http://www.kashmirdispatch.com/others/17085346-the-beautiful-and-bald-university-kashmir.htm

“...Mathematicians won the wars, mathematicians broke the Japanese codes...mathematicians like you stated that the goal of Soviets is global communism...In Medicine or Economics: In Technology or space, battle lines are being drawn ...To triumph we need results...Applicable results, Now who among you would be the next Morse, the next Einstein? Who among you would be the vanguard of democracy, freedom and discovery...Today we bequeath America’s future into your able hands... Welcome to Princeton gentlemen...!”

These beautiful inspirational lines are from the first scene of a movie ‘Beautiful Mind’ based on life of two-time Nobel laureate-mathematician-John Nash. The scene is set in September 1947, Princeton University inaugural class, where a Professor welcomes the young scholars and one among them sitting in the rows is John Nash. When Professor bequeaths the future of America to the new comers in the University, seriousness and pain of the respectable and most sought after responsibility reflects on their faces. And, they move on to become one of the finest classes of mathematicians and economists of the 20th century. The future of America was bequeathed in safe hands!

In 2010, a journalist friend from France wanted to discuss future of Kashmir with teachers, scholars and students at Kashmir University. The officials (academicians) did not allow that. Perhaps, they thought we do not have John Nash’s in our classes or we do not have teachers who have the eligibility and academic courage to bequeath the future of Kashmir to any of the scholars and students. There may be plenty of them available but none has been nourished to express. The highest seat of learning in Kashmir has risen so high that academics itself remains lagging behind by ages. The students, research and scholars have just become one of the priorities of varsity managers. The priority that figures somewhere on the last pages of the priority list (that are mostly not read.) The contractors, landscape, motor vehicles, petrol allocation, tender notices, trimming chinar trees, decorating guest houses and most importantly the impotent conferences and functions are the front-runners in the list and this how a University is redefined in Kashmir. The new Vice Chancellor- a brilliant academicians as I hear in Delhi-may need to give an ear to all this. This becomes more important when VC has asked all the managers except few to surrender the vehicles and NAAC visit scheduled later this month. The beautiful campus is academically bald.

The culture of maiming the dissent and passing orders rather than facilitating exchange of ideas is how our University is still working. The students and researchers are considered as vegetables that have no choice but to be chopped by the people who plan and executes the rules of the varsity. The moment a researcher, talks sense or raise voice against the system, the proctor office jumps in, to show him the door or tag him or her with a red sign. However, some of the sleazy managers inside who actually should be red marked for their character are not disturbed and they continue to enjoy the prestigious positions. In 2008 researchers in one of the department complained that they were being molested by one of the much celebrated faculty of the varsity. Even though the KU officials started the enquiry after students protested. The enquiry report was never made public and is only known to those who started the enquiry. In 2011, many other scholars are facing the same problem. But, nobody comes out in public fearing that no action would be taken. All this is based on unreported facts that rarely come out from this concrete jungle. If any conscious insider attempts to raise voice, he or she is sent on forced leave.

The encouragement of mediocrity in any society leads to its decay and death. This plague has destroyed civilizations. At KU, the mediocrity is not only encouraged but respected as well. There are honourable exceptions everywhere, but polluted powerful majority overshadows the powerless minority. The orchestrated commemoration of each other’s works at varsity functions is what they define as intellectual debate and criticism. The protocol at conference is more important than the theme of the conference itself. Students, who should have been actually preparing papers to read in the conferences, are seen roaming around as event managers and more precisely preparing the refreshment for the guests (who are mostly the state administration people.)

Recently KU was helping few students to organize the music show (to help an orphanage). No issues with the concept per se but are we done with all our curricular and academic pursuits in the varsity. Besides, such activities happen with all inclusiveness. The University should better think of a fest that includes fund raising creative projects. It should attract intellectual and academic endeavours rather than putting all energy into singing and dancing that -to the highest level-would end up in some nonsense reality TV show. The students who were planning the music show should better be encouraged to manage a business extravaganzas and invite entrepreneurs for sharing and learning experience, so that they themselves-after completion of the degree-would not be just rushing to banks for the jobs. They should be encouraged and taught to prepare papers for Harvard Business Review, Mckinsy and other international journals. The students should better be aware of the latest case studies of Coke, Nokia, BskyB and Dowjones rather than wasting time in managing the sterile programs.

For charity, we are amongst highest charity paying regions, besides there are thousands working on this front. If we work hard and excel in our specialized fields, that would be the best charity for our nation. If a KU student manages to lead a multinational company, gets admission in NASA, UN, OIC, and MIT, or become a multi millionaire businessperson, he or she can plan placements of hundreds of orphans and help thousands. That would be the best charity. Many people are doing that but it happens only when they opt for better options than Kashmir University. The fascist liberal thought processes should not sway the productive minds from delivering their best in the right direction.

The politics in different departments at KU is much preferred than the political science subject itself. At the time when the varsity should provide voice to people who are not educated it remains in cocoon as slave that has been cultivated as a shadow of the cruel master. The varsity has failed to connect itself to people of Kashmir. The higher education is a transformative process. Our present policies and decisions at the varsity are undermining our future capacity to be a globally competitive knowledge powerhouse. The research policy of a University as is believed by the experst is related to the economic growth of the state. At Kashmir University, it has never dawned on us.

The continued state of leprosy of the KU is putting a question mark on the academic and intellectual future of Kashmir. “By concentrating on ‘how’ a goal is to be achieved, we often overlook, ‘why’ the goal is sought in the first place, and whether it ‘ought’ to be pursued at all,” said a sociologist from US while talking about psychology of goal setting and competition. The University it seems has set all the non-transformative TRP earning and money generating cosmetic goals where students and research become the first causality of the process.