After Kerala University, SFI Criticises Saffronising JNU Campus
Days after the Student Federation of India (SFI) staged protests against the saffronization of educational institutes in Kerala following the Bharat Mata Row, the student body has condemned the similar gestures at the JNU campus.
Reportedly, a recent “Bharatiya Gyan Sarishtha” conference hosted at Jawaharlal Nehru University culminated in the ritualistic transfer of the ‘Jnanadhand’ amidst Vedic chants and the garlanding of a map depicting ‘Bharat Mata,’ with the JNU Vice Chancellor Shantishree Dhulipudi Pandit herself performing symbolic rituals.
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SFI, in its official statement condemning the rituals said, “it marks yet another disturbing milestone in the ongoing Brahminical and saffronising project targeting public universities in India. JNU is being systematically turned into a site for the glorification of majoritarian ideology. The attempt to replace academic knowledge production with ritualised religiosity is nothing but a brazen attempt to dismantle the secular, inclusive, and critical traditions that universities like JNU have historically upheld”.
While accusing the BJP-RSS goal to transform institutions of higher education into echo chambers for their exclusionary ideology, SFI calls it an attempt to suppress dissent and replace critical thought with dogma.
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The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) calls it at the forefront of resisting the sinister saffronisation. “From Delhi to Kerala, our struggle continues unabated. The recent massive protests across Kerala’s top universities—Kerala University, Mahatma Gandhi University, Calicut University, and Kannur University—against the RSS-backed Governor’s authoritarian interference are a testament to our commitment”, SFI said.
SFI JNU in its official statement strongly condemned the ongoing saffronisation of public universities and reaffirmed its resolve to resist every attempt to communalise higher education.
