Education like polity and economy is primarily a socio-cultural institution and water-tight compartmentalization of these institutions is fundamentally averse to the free flow of knowledge.
Denying educational curricula of the moorings that hold it in a society will do less good to the phenomenon of emancipation that education is supposed to bring among the pursuers.
While serious efforts are being made throughout the world to bridge the void between the academia and the common man so that the benefits of knowledge generated in the institutions of learning and research can trickle to the grass roots of the society, the academia in the trouble-torn state of J&K, particularly the valley has always been denied the freedom to express their perspectives on the multitude of problems faced by the general populace.
In fact, an academic perspective on the political problem of Kashmir was never allowed to germinate in Kashmir. Leaving aside debating Kashmir issue, academicians in Kashmir are at many times barred from discussing issues which are purely academic in nature.
A recent incident with a maverick teacher in one of the Departments of University of Kashmir is a case in point. As a student-centric classroom exercise, the teacher asked his students to frame few questions which they perceive could be asked to a top separatist leader. The sleuths working with various intelligence agencies within no time reprimanded the teacher and warned him of dire consequences if he doesn’t mend his teaching methodology.
In the valedictory session of the recently concluded 6th JK science congress, the intellectually mindful governor of our state N N Vohra, in his presidential remarks emphasised the need to link the society with the knowledge created by the researchers. Vohra repeatedly exhorted the budding researchers of the state to keep the needs and problems of broader society in focus while selecting their research topics.
The state establishment needs to inculcate this very sense while dealing with matters of academic nature. Permitting the academia to develop original, independent and novel thoughts and perspectives on wide ranging issues before the society is inevitable to the development of an emancipated society.
Normally the universities are the hatcheries of professionals and leaders in any society. But the universities in Kashmir are being manned as if they are primary schools. Tragically, these kind of norms are implemented only in the mountain-surrounded bowl and it lacks any relevance to places outside Kashmir.
