New Delhi: The students and teachers of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have condemned BJP General Secretary CT Ravi’s remarks about proposing to change the name of the university to Swami Vivekananda University.
Less than a week’s time after PM Narendra Modi unveiled Swami Vivekananda’s life-sized statue on the JNU campus, Ravi tweeted his opinion on renaming the university. “It was Swami Vivekananda who stood for the idea of ‘Bharat’. His philosophy and values signify the ‘Strength of Bharat’. It is only right that Jawaharlal Nehru University is renamed as Swami Vivekananda University. Life of Bharat’s patriotic saint will inspire generations to come,” the BJP leader in-charge of Maharashtra, Goa and Tamil Nadu, tweeted.
But JNU Teachers’ Association’s (JNUTA) has questioned as to why rename a university, why not create a better one? “Swami Vivekananda was a great man. Nehru too was a follower of the man. Why rename an existing university? They can try and build more universities which are of great quality. Why not build Swami Vivekananda Universities across the country and make sure that they are better than JNU? Why not build world-class universities rather than bringing the Stanfords and Oxfords here?” JNUTA president Dr Milap Chand Sharma was quoted as saying by EdexLive.
“They haven’t built one single university that has the same stature as JNU. Even the IIMs and IITs were started around 2007 and is continuing. Instead of renaming existing institutions, the leaders should try and build more universities which will spread good quality education,” he added.
JNUTA Secretary Dr Moushumi Basu said that this does not serve any constructive purpose whatsoever, “There are more important issues.”
Even the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is not in favour of changing the name of the prestigious university. “We are not in favour of any kind of changes. The Swami Vivekananda statue is an honour for the students’ community here in JNU and we want to spread the idea of Swamiji among students. This is our sole motto,” said JNU’s ABVP president Shivam Chaurasia.