Understanding Democracy In
India -
Democracy supports the individual transition from a subject to citizen. However,
the right bearer citizens are more vulnerable, and more helpless at times.
Individuals come together in associations- for example student unions etc.. Associations have capacity to challenge the brute power of the state through petitions, protests, dharnas and ultimately judicial activism.
Individuals come together in associations- for example student unions etc.. Associations have capacity to challenge the brute power of the state through petitions, protests, dharnas and ultimately judicial activism.
Each diverse organ in civil
society in plural form is important. A past- Some people who were associated
with Human Rights were imprisoned during emergency. In 1975- 1977
Every political revolution
has begun with the idea of rights to life and liberty. There two rights are the
core of the other rights available. In recent years human rights groups have
become the custodian of the fundamental rights. The matter of concern is poor
and vulnerable.
The democracy
becomes critical if the government defies ethics and morality. Today few
organizations are progressive. They have courageously taken the challenge posed
by the corporates. Activists have been penalized for their eternal vigilance.
The government’s right wing organizations have terrorized human right activists.
Poets and activists were targeted by
police in the country. However, even universities are under scanner in the name
of the code of conduct.
The role of Universities in Building Democracy
Universities
are the source of new ideas for human development and filled with young generations
who are higher in energy to work. They
represent the society of their time, and discussing policies of the government
of criticizing the government works against authoritarianism as well as
leadership is developed at the right time for future.
Should University have the code of conduct and avoid criticism of
the government?
The
‘code of conduct’ is needed to prevent chaos. Universities need to follow codes
that maintain respect for the autonomy of its members ensuring fairness in the
evaluation of performance of students and teachers.
However,
it does not mean that university people can not criticize the government. That
can not be related to the code of conduct. If such rules are enforced that will prevent
creation of new leaders and democracy will itself will come in danger.
Looking at the historical events- Even Hitler and Stalin
they followed this idea, and restricted the freedom of expression.
Leaning from Abroad-
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is ranked first in the
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranking of the world’s universities for 2019. The
term ‘public intellectual’ may have been coined to describe its former
professor Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky has been a trenchant critic of the U.S.
establishment for over 50 years. His early work in this genre was At War with Asia, which attacked American intervention
in Southeast Asia at a time when the Vietnam War was raging and not yet widely
unpopular.
The Harvard economist, John Kenneth Galbraith, had incisively
pointed out how the core of the American economy was constituted by ‘the
military-industrial complex’ uncovering also its political power. Galbraith had
gone on to have a happy career.
Conclusion
The code of conduct can be a tool to shush
the voices in universities. This is the beauty of democracy where criticism is
not considered as sedition and freedom to expression is given. The constructive
criticism helps in going ahead in better ways, and criticism in Universities
will help a democracy to be a sustained democracy.
