Govt needs to stop undermining educational, cultural institutions

NDA displayes its true colours when it comes to education and culture

The students' strike at Pune's Film and Television Institute of India over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as its chairman is another reminder that when it comes to education and culture, the National Democratic Alliance government displays its true colours. Mr Chauhan's appointment has less to do with any demonstrable thoughts or perspective on the audio-visual arts or his role as Yudhishthira in the television serial Mahabharat but as a convenor of culture for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). His is not the only example of the ruling party's effort to stamp its authority on institutions partly or wholly funded by the central exchequer. January witnessed the unedifying spectacle of the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification, the respected Leela Samson, resigning after the board was overruled by the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry for blocking the release of MSG: The Messenger of God, a tawdry piece of self-promotion by the head of a religious cult that had extended its support to the BJP. Soon after, nine CBFC members resigned in protest against the "cavalier and dismissive manner in which the CBFC is treated by government" and its lack of autonomy. Unfazed, the BJP's handpicked successor was Pahlaj Nihalani; it also packed the board with others with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliation. Mr Nihalani is allegedly a film maker, but his stronger claim to fame is his muscular endorsement of Narendra Modi as his "action hero" and the crafting of the election slogan "Har Ghar Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi". He and his team proved their worth as pillars of the BJP's moral police force by banning everyday curse words and even the term "Bombay" from some films and refusing one certification on grounds of "igniting unnatural passion".

Last year, it was the human resource development (HRD) ministry that made waves with its mystifying appointment of one Yellapragada Sudershan Rao as chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR). Mr Rao was not a prominent academic - indeed few historians had heard of him. In the BJP's world view, however, Mr Rao was eminently suitable. A former head of the department of history and tourism management from Kakatiya University, he deplored that research sponsored by the ICHR was "guided by modern schools of historiography of the West". His thoughts are wholly in line with saffron schools of historiography; a 2007 blog has him upholding the caste system and blaming its rigidities and distortions on Muslim invasions and rule. This controversial appointment closely followed the HRD minister's clumsy attempts to subvert the autonomy of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) that led to the resignations of two esteemed directors from the Delhi and the Mumbai IITs. Undaunted, she personally oversaw the appointment of directors of three new IITs following interviews conducted at awesome speed. Just before that she made headlines in a showdown with the vice-chancellor of Delhi University over a four-year undergraduate programme.

These are worrying signs and the government would do well to avoid taking steps that could undermine institutions of education and culture.