Sunday, May 15, 2011

JNU 5

Entries under this titl are posts and comments on JNU forums of FB

1

I came to JNU in 1976 during the emergency to live underground. Did not know much about the university then except that one of my Allahabad seniors DP Tripathi was there. Came looking for him but he was in Jail and met late Shri GhanashyamMishra and another senior Ramashankar Singh from Allahabad and became his guest. My first interactionbs were with Hindi-urdu people. Mohan Shrotriya, Uday Prakash, Manmohan were already established names in JNU. Sitaram's room no. was 325 Ganga and mine(Ramashankar's) room was 323. To a student coming from a strictly hierarchical place like Allahabad, it was a revelation. The atmosphere of discussion and debate enlivened by wits and humour of Dilip Upadhyay. So i became part of JNU community even before formally joining in 1977. I still remember night long mehfil with Ali Javed singing Mazar and faiz and Ghanshyam Mishra Kalidas. Gorakh's presence in those mehfils around Kasiram's Ganga Dhaba would add fervour to the mehfils. DP tripathi would recite his poems and other good poems. JNU 70s laid the foundation and 8os erected the edifice.

2


Arun ji, even in our generation, rather in every generation, majority is always of carrierists, with globalization pressure that has intensified. The left has not dithered butr the compsition has changed, in p[lace of SFI/AISF, who generally played the politics of compromise, there are DSU/AISA. In any anti-war; pro-people protests we find majority of the student participants are from JNU. Many people had become leftists in search of a platform and went away in different directions towards from Congress to Paswan to BJP to NCP. In 1990s and the begining of this century, they have been able to keep away eating corporates from the campus. When Chasndra Shekhar was murdered by the RJD goon Sahabuddin, thousands of students marched on the streets of Delhi. In 70s/80s you know the apolitical political education. For the first time when there4 was repressive action like 1983, entire so-called left, barring tiny section of radical left compromised with authorities along with their right counter part FT and social democrates, making Dilip Upadhyay to lament, "French May revolution was a tragedy, ours was not even a farce". The engin og history does not have a back gear, it may zig-zag.

3
Jalees's expulsion from Jhelum was just one part of the movement in 1983 that was created to divert the issue but the gherao of PN srivastava, then the acting VC was on the issue of the admission policy only. Many people who seemed to be most active in the "mob" were the first to compromise. Arun ji, even in 80s also, we used to take charge of mess and library, but as Atal has said, there was huge force and all the heroes of 70s and early 80s went to their hide-outs (hostel rooms), major (in No.) organisations viz SFI, AISF, FTs compromised with authorities. Bipin Chandra/RR Sharma/........ all were calling the students movement as fascist attack on teachers, great heroes, some of them present in this forum also, would avoid reading posters under fear, in such a situation the authorities were able to declare sine-die and rusticate all those who refused to apologize, the final number was very small, 17-18. Among the second list of apologizers were the President and couple of SFI stalwarts including Jagpal Singh (now a prof in IGNOU) Anwar (then office bearer of JNUSU now prof in CIL, JNU). I have participated in writing best postures of my political life under the unclaimed leadership of Dilip Upadhyay. Shahid Parvez would come up with some beautiful couplets for postures. Normally posturing is done in the night but we decided to do it in the day time so that students do not feel demoralized but under fear many people would avoid reading posters. Some of the self-claimed heroes of this forum were also among them. 'tamaam log" aandolan ke abhaasv" me nahee balki apanee naassamajhee aur kaayarata me "tanha ho gaye". My Ph D was just few months away, I did not appear in the Justice Prithviraj commission thinking that by the time they appoint another commission, i would have submitted my PhD but state can be very efficient if it wishes so. One of the chams of the then VC and would be VC Ashish Dutta's daughter was my student at DPS and great fan of mine and so was Rector's (Agwani's) son. Ashish Dutta came to my room in Ganga and requested me to write a "mild apology" that "I have not done anything but if you still feel so I apologize for that". I told him I am not responsible for your feelings "if you still feel so you must apologize". He told me that no one would come to know about it and I told him that at least 2 of us would be knowing and that his knowing did not matter but if one falls in his own eyes, things become miserable. Instead of apology, I issued a counter show-cause notice to the VC that why action should not be taken against him for spoiling an academic center of excellence. Eventually I was rusticated for 3 years along with Atal, Urmilesh, Arun and Sudhir Gupta. rest in the next post after making tea for my wife, Saroj ji.
4
1983's memories are infinite. Rajesh Rahul who is most probably no more, as he disappeared some time in 1992-93 and remains untraceable, went to the VC's office and told them that do not issue notices to so many Rahuls and that "in your reccords my name is Rajesh kumar Singh" and thus got show cause notice issued against himself. He wrote a beautiful poem, "JAB CHHOOTATI HAI KOI JAGAH................".

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