Once upon a time, it was extremely rare for academics to venture out of the classroom. While they immersed themselves in teaching and research, they seldom find the time to engage with the general public or policy makers, and when they do, they sometimes fail to translate their research into language that is accessible to audiences that lack familiarity with disciplinary discourses.
A local vernacular daily made an attempt in bringing economists and other academics participate in discourses aimed at public awareness of the economic and political issues and for public good. The attempt was largely successful. With the advent of live talk shows and panel discussions in the local cable channels, academics have come out or rather dragged out of their cocoon and they were seen actively participating in social and policy discourses. It is a good sign for the society.
Academics like it when people refer to them as intellectuals. However, not all academics are intellectuals. An intellectual is an intelligent, learned person, especially one who discourses about learned matters. Be it academic or intellectual, it is important for everyone participating in public forum or discussions to be intellectually honest in expressing their opinions. While free and frank opinions should be welcomed, any opinion without intellectual honesty, could be deemed as having vested political interests. Having said that, we would like to discuss here the circumstances leading to intellectuals and academics once again receding to self-imposed cocoons and intellectual isolation.
It all began with RSS and BJP elements infiltrating academic spaces by supplanting mediocre academics as heads in institutions all over the country after Narendra Modi came to power in 2014 at New Delhi. And as such already embedded Hindutva elements came into prominence. It reached the state of Manipur in 2016 when the central government sent a virtual nobody in the person of one Adya Prasad Pandey from Banaras Hindu University as Vice-Chancellor of Manipur University. His antics and tyrannical rule ultimately led to a revolt and strike in the central university.
The campus was split in the middle between seeking patronage of RSS and those aspiring for intellectual freedom and a friction unknown before had come into place. Then came the midnight raid of Manipur University campus by police on September 20, 2018. It was after a BJP led government came into power in the state of Manipur. Thus, began direct action of the state aimed at stifling the voice of intellectual dissent and discourse which had become so vibrant in the last decade. Suddenly arrogance came into play and attempts at controlling the intellectual discourse began in right earnest with many new converts from the academic community flocking the offices of RSS and BJP bigwigs. Many of these new converts were ones seeking administrative posts in the various academic institutions in the state.
Then in 2020 came a government memorandum which restricted government college teachers and other staff working under the higher education department from making public comments in the media on government policy and programmes. The memorandum said, some government college teachers have been writing or expressing their views on government policies and programmes in the media which is likely to promote defiance of authority or which amounts to adverse criticism of the government policies and programmes.
As such, government college teachers and other staff working under the directorate of university and higher education should take due approval before publishing or making statements regarding any government policy or programme in the media. The final straw was the September 13, 2022 order seeking prior approval to publish books on history, culture, tradition and geography of Manipur. A noted journalist Pradip Phanjoubam challenged the said government order and it is still in the court. In all these instances, the intent of the state to stifle intellectual dissent and freedom is apparent.
- EDITORIAL
