This weekend I was surprised to read in the highest circulated national daily a report on the Ramayana ssay as the lead of the day. The controversy surrounding the s c h o l a s t i c w o r k o f A K Ramanujan has ebbed and was surprised to suddenly see the report pop up, albeit now with a prime inisterial angle to it. In these times, when the Prime Minister is battling matters like corruption, black money and FDI in retail, is Ramanujan’s essay that important to spur his intervention? To e v en t hink t PMO would have sent any directive to the Delhi University on the matter at best looks to be a figment f some conspiracy theorist’s imagination. It could at best be an attempt by the Government to rake up he issue of Ramayana essay to pitch the Leftists against the BJP, whose unity on the floor of Parliament as caused much consternation in the treasury benches. The presence of Marxist teachers on the ifferent University campuses of the Capital is the best illustration of the largesse which the Congress has been estowing on their Marxist collaborators. Be it any of the centres of higher education, which are hands o Government grant, they are being held captive by the academics with Marxist leaning. These Marxist atrons over t h e y e a r s h a v e e n s u r e d appointment of their protégés i n t h e D e l h i Un i colleges and institutions of other universities. O n t h e c o n t r a s t , y o u would seldom find a arxist professor ever seeking an employment in a privatelyvfunded centre of higher education. The eason or the same is not far to seek. In the centres of higher education in private sector, the academics have to e accountable and have the ability to actually deliver in terms of actual placement of their students. N o u n e m p l o y e d g r a d u a t e s year-after-year. The Marxists could claim that they do not believe in ducation being made part of market economy. This is unacceptable. How can education remain nsulated island of gove r nment f unding wit h no accountability? I recall a nonMarxist Professor, who s also a famous consumer rights votary, virtually yelling at a research scholar from JNU t a job interview for not producing even seven published works in the seven years of his stay at the sylvan ampus made vibrant for intellectual discussion and discourse by the hard earned tax-payer’s money. While the Left warriors are burning midnight oil to make a case for reintroducing the essay, I wonder if hey have bothered to evaluate how good are the Delhi University graduates, who must have attended ome classes of history in whatever course of humanities s t r e a m t h e y w o u l d h a v e studied, ith their knowledge of the subject. In the midst of the ideological war which is being fought with much anfare, has anybody bothered to find out how good the knowledge of the students of history of the recent past is, forget about their take on diverse telling of the Ramayana? My experience of over one ecade as recruiter and trainer of the fresh graduates from Delhi University for career in journalism has een very disappointing. The majority of them are not conversant even with the matters of immediate ast. Last August, when Anna Hazare was refused permission to stage his fast at Jaya Prakash Narayan ark, I had to face the shock of a Delhi University graduate tell me that she actually did not know who Lok Nayak was and what his role in history was. Out of disgust, I sent her immediately to the park to read he laque at Narayan’s statue to know who the Socialist titan was. This is not an isolated case. A few years ack, I was trying to explain to some students doing journalism course at Delhi University, who were with s for summer internship, the impact carefully chosen words made. To impress on them I tried to llustrate the matter by telling them about a conversation between Field Marshal Ayub Khan and Lal Bahadur Shastri. I realised I was talking to blank faces. It was not just that they were unaware who Ayub as? They were even ignorant about Shastri. The closest they could get to identify the second Prime Minister of India was, “he was a freedom fighter”. I checked on their schools and colleges and they all ave been to institutions which enjoy reasonable brand equity. Not knowing who Shastri was, they eren’t expected to answer me on Morarji Desai, Charan Singh and Chandrasekhar. But worse was still to come. Perturbed, I did a check on some of the newly recruited trainees with us. I was in for a bigger shock. hen sked who Dr Rajendra Prasad was, the only ‘correct’ answer they could give was that he is principal of Ramjas College. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, Zakir Hussain, VV Giri and Neelam Sanjeev Reddy for them ever existed. Exasperated, I asked them what made you think for a career in journalism? Pat came reply from them, “We wish to contribute towards society.” I had since wondering how they c o u l d c on t r i w a rd s society as journalists with such pathetic understanding of our History. Bu t w hy b l am e t m. While pushing the Right and the Left ideologies, the history teachers on the campus have failed to mpart basic knowledge. The politics which guides teaching history and drawing of syllabus could not have done a bigger damage to the nation by keeping its college students even ignorant about the Prime ministers and Presidents.
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