Conformity may give you a quiet life; it may even bring you to a University Chair. But all change in history, all advance, comes from the nonconformists. If there had been no trouble-makers, no dissenters, we should still be living in caves.
-A.J.P. Taylor, historian (25 Mar 1906-1990)
I have never been this frustrated with people or events or my country. Sure enough I always remember what John F. Kennedy said about "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Yes, I keep this quote in mind but the current political monkeyism is getting on my nerves.
How on earth did we come to this point of having to threaten, thrash, jail, molestate students who are protesting for their rights and exercising their fundamental constitutional right to speech and expression? I am baffled to see the top guns in the government especially the HRD minister who about a week ago cried in Parliament and passionately explained her love and concern for the students seems to keep mum on the current violent happenings in University of Hyderabad and Fergusson College in Maharashtra. The PM with an amazing solidarity with his ministers is quiet too. He only speaks his mind on the radio because that's the most preferred communication medium in India today.
Why exactly are politicians speaking so vehemently and opposing the student voices now? Have they forgotten of their own activism route to politics via their student unions in their heydey? If so, let us remind them to not forget the tradition of free speech and student movements that existed even during their days and of which they speak so gloriously about at convocation ceremonies. I know that politics is a two-headed serpent but this kind of poison against students is disgusting. Don't you realise the students are merely exercising their constitutional right to expressing their opinions through debates which is what they will learn from more than any prescribed syllabus in the world?!
I am not disappointed. I am angry at this pathetic handling of something so apolitical by these politicians and turning it into an anti-national labelling against the students. If you are going to suppress free speech and debate in universities why have them at all? Why not just ban education all over? Let's not have student politics or activism, let the reigns of our nation be handled by these political stooges while we, the citizens stand muted and in silence over the atrocities. While we are at this let us also rename our democracy since clearly we don't abide by the constitution any more.
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