UGC’s Dream of a Modi-fied University Or Tagore Track-Changed

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high bowed low
Where knowledge is free a tradable WTO commodity
Where the world University has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls and spiraling barbed wire
Where words come out from the depth of truth books of Dinananath Batra
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit has been disciplined and dammed by Parent-teacher-Meets, Police Stations and ‘Code of Conduct’

Where the mind is led forward by thee shackled and forced backward
Into ever-widening thought and action ever-narrowing mindless passivity
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. Suffocating prison of unfreedom, let my country’s youth be silenced into subjugation.

Immediately Withdraw the UGC ‘Guidelines on Safety of Students on and off Campuses of Higher Educational Institutions’

In a typical reflection of the alliterations and wordplay that characterise crafted jumlas of Modi, the UGC has issued a set of ‘guidelines’ for Higher Educational Institutions (HIEs) claiming to transform them into ‘Oasis Of Safety, Security And Study’! However, as anybody can see that these ‘Guidelines on Safety of Students on and off Campuses of Higher Educational Institutions’ issued on April 16^th 2015 are nothing but a blatant move to stifle and suffocate freedom of mobility and expression in higher education institutions (HEIs) – i.e Universities and colleges.

Believe it or not, these ‘Guidelines’ call for:

HEIs and hostels to be surrounded by a “boundary wall of such height that it cannot be scaled over easily” with a “fence of spiraling barbed wires,” with armed security guards, CCTV cameras, metal detectors and physical security check of every visitor.
“Biometric way of marking student attendance, both in HEI as well as hostels…digital mechanism (to) enable HEIs to keep an eye on a student’s movement and whereabouts in failsafe manner.”
Compulsory wearing of id cards by students and staff
A “university police station within the premises of the HEIs,” with police personnel or “Community Service Officers” formed from among students conducting “night patrols,” “escort services to students as they walk down to hostel or nearest taxi or bus-stand.”
“Teacher counselors, trained to act as the guardians of students at the college level” to “convey their growth report and feedback on attendance, examination results etc to their parents at regular interval of time.” In other words, teacher counselors and hostel wardens to spy on students and “exchange personal details of students, academic record and behavior patterns for prompt pre-emptive or corrective action.”
Quarterly parents-teachers meet (PTM)
In the name of self-defence against rape, students to be taught strategies of “awareness, risk reduction and risk avoidance.”
“An exhaustive Code of Conduct for students enrolled in departments or affiliated colleges and display it on institutional websites for compliance.”
“Mandatory for institutions to elicit consent letters from the parents/guardians of the students who are embarking on tour.”
“Students should be allowed to carry personal communication devices such as mobile phones and should be instructed to remain in constant touch with their parents/guardians.”

We ask the UGC –

Are our University students not adult citizens with their right to choice, freedom and dignity?
Why should adult citizens be monitored through ‘Parent Teacher Meet’ as is done in schools?
How can the UGC violate our right to privacy by telling University authorities to spy on students’ personal life, ideological choices and activism?
Is the UGC really unaware that many problems of students on University campuses – including sexual harassment and other forms of harassment and victimization – arise from the power that teachers and University authorities wield over students? Why, then, is the UGC giving teachers and authorities even more power to ‘report’ to parents on students’ lives, thereby making students even more vulnerable to harassment and abuse of power?
Can’t the UGC see that if University authorities ‘report’ students’ personal relationships and political activism to parents, this may result in parents curtailing the education of students, especially women students?
Isn’t the UGC aware that ‘honour’ crimes have claimed the lives of many college and University students even in recent times? Don’t you see that your ‘Guidelines’ that report students’ ‘behaviour patterns’ to parents, can endanger the lives of students who are in inter-caste, inter-faith or same sex relationships?
How can you demand “mandatory consent letters from parents” for trips/tours? Won’t Guidelines give parents the power to deny adult offspring, especially daughters, the right to go on tours and trips?

We would like to tell the UGC – Police presence on campuses does not make us safe, it makes us UNSAFE! Police should have no place on campuses, since police will harass and intimidate students who raise their voices in dissent or hold protests against the administration or the government.

We would like to remind the UGC that ‘risk avoidance’ can easily turn into victim blaming and moral policing, whereby women students will be told that they can ‘avoid’ rape by avoiding ‘risk’ in the form of certain clothes, late nights, friendships with men, etc

We want our campuses to be open spaces “Where knowledge is free/Where the world has not been broken up into fragments/By narrow domestic walls,” where students can interact freely with the world outside and can explore academic, social and political ideas and activism without fear of disapproval and repression by parents, police, Governments or University authorities.

A University that is surrounded by high walls and barbed wire, where campuses have CCTV cameras, armed guards and even police stations, where every movement of adult students is monitored and reported to their parents, is NOT an ‘oasis of safety and security’ – IT IS A JAIL!

The Guidelines may be a useful tool for forces that conduct moral policing, seek to ‘cleanse cultural pollution,’ impose a culture of bans and attack freedom of expression. The Guidelines may also be a tool for Governments that seek to suppress and stifle dissent on campuses as they commercialize education. But common students will not allow such ‘Guidelines’ to be imposed on their campuses.

AISA appeals to all of you to support and strengthen the all-India campaign calling on students and citizens from campuses all over the country to reject the ‘Guidelines on Safety of Students on and off Campuses of Higher Educational Institutions’ and demand that the UGC withdraw these guidelines immediately.