[Reader-list] 'To preserve our secular inheritance'

[Nazneen Anand Shamsi]

Dear all,

Pasted below is an interview that VC of Jamia gave to our
'pseudo-secular' magazine Frontline outlying his reasons regarding his
decision to provide legal aid to Jamia students. Broadly speaking, it
seems to me, that Prof.Hasan is got a mind of his own and he refuses
to give any rationale or reasonable explanation for his act. He terms
the adverse effect of his decision on the placement process as
'Unfortunate'. Most of the questions are answered by putting his self
in the forefront, 'I think', 'I thought so' etc. He even thinks that
terrorism is a 'passing phase'! Although he emphasized in the very
beginning of the interview that he will be first to quit if everyone
is found guilty. If any of the students who are charged as accused
were to be guilty as charged would just quitting his post absolve
Prof.Hasan of the responsibility of  his act? I don't think that at
this time we can ponder about it as the story is still unfolding. But
nevertheless I would be happy to hear what other members on this list
think about this issue.

Regards

Nazo

http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20081024252102800.htm

Frontline
Volume 25 - Issue 21 :: Oct. 11-24, 2008
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU

TERRORISM

'To preserve our secular inheritance'

PURNIMA S.TRIPATHI

Interview with Mushirul Hasan, Vice-Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia,
New Delhi.


MUSHIRUL HASAN. HE says he will be the first to quit if any student is
proven guilty.

JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA in New Delhi, a Central university, has been in
the news because of the recent arrest of two of its students for their
alleged involvement in the bomb blasts in New Delhi and elsewhere. One
of the alleged terrorists killed in the Jamia Nagar encounter in
Delhi, Atif Ameen, had enrolled at the university only in August this
year.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Mushirul Hasan announced that the university
would provide legal aid to its students who were arrested, a stand
which was subsequently endorsed by Union Human Resource Development
(HRD) Minister Arjun Singh. Hasan told Frontline that it was his
personal decision because he felt as a teacher and as the head of an
institution that it was his moral responsibility to stand by his
students until the legal process reached its logical conclusion.

A Padma Shri awardee who has written 11 books on Indian history, Hasan
has presented many papers at world fora and is an authority on Islam,
Partition and communalism. "I will be the first person to quit if even
a single student of my university is ever found expressing solidarity
with terrorist activities anywhere," said Hasan. Excerpts from the
interview:
Everyone was surprised by your announcement that the university would
provide legal aid to students arrested for their alleged involvement
in the bomb blasts. What made you take this stand?

These are only charges at the moment. Our jurisprudence dictates that
one is innocent until proven guilty. This was my personal decision
because I felt as a teacher and as the head of an institution, it was
my moral responsibility. After all, is the teacher not considered the
mai-baap [mother-father] by the students? I was only trying to calm
nerves on the campus and assure my students and the faculty that
nobody is denied his or her fundamental rights in this country.

I have nothing to say on the encounter; it is outside my brief. But I
had to come into the picture because three of our students were
involved. I was concerned about its impact on the campus.
How would you justify your stand, all the more because Jamia is a
Central university and the BJP says you are spending taxpayers' money
to help terrorists?

I owe no explanation or justification to anybody. Those who know me or
are aware of my credentials will understand my decision. As for the
criticism from the BJP, I take it as a certificate of my "good
conduct". Any words of appreciation from the BJP, in fact, would
embarrass me. Their criticism is proof that I am on the right track.

As for spending taxpayers' money, this is not true. The funds are
being contributed by the teachers voluntarily. There is a committee
for this purpose. Besides, we have a students aid fund from which we
regularly help students in situations like medical emergencies. We
have spent from this fund for arranging bails in the case of an
incident of violence in which 40 students were arrested. So this is
not something we have done for the first time.
But here the charges are of being involved in terrorist activities.

That is still to be proved. I took the decision to foil the attempt by
a section of the political parties and the media to damage the
university's image. Just because a couple of students have been
implicated in cases, it does not make the entire university a nerve
centre of terrorist activity. This vicarious attempt by a section to
discredit the independent, pluralist and secular credentials of the
university is unfortunate and it was to defeat this campaign that I
took this stand. I owe no explanation for my conduct to anybody.

After I decided, I merely informed the HRD Minister, UGC [University
Grants Commission] Chairman, the Secretary and the Joint Secretary
concerned. They are not obliged either to agree or disagree with me.
My only intention is to defend and preserve the secular inheritance of
our university and calm nerves.

As for the students being accused of involvement in terrorist
activities, let them be proven guilty first. The law of the land says
that you are innocent until proven guilty. If they are proven guilty
and convicted, good, bad and sad. They would deserve their punishment.
But if they are exonerated, then also it is fine, no big cause for
jubilation. I can assure you that if ever any of my students were
found expressing solidarity with terrorism anywhere, I would be the
first person to quit. The spirit of the university must not be
compromised or tarnished by anyone whatsoever.
What is the impact of the incident on the campus?

Except for the first few days of nervous tension, the campus has been
a model of exemplary behaviour. We had a massive peace march in which
9,000-10,000 students participated. But yes, there is a sense of
insecurity among students, which is true for both Hindu and Muslim
students. Landlords in the neighbouring areas are asking our students
to vacate their houses; the very sight of the police makes the
students nervous.

The university administration, however, is trying to instil a sense of
security among the students. We asked the government to remove the
police from the campus immediately afterwards. We are also trying to
solve the hostel problem; we are building a new hostel for about 1,500
students, which should be ready in six to eight months.

The biggest assurance, however, has been the fact that the faculty is
solidly behind the administration and has been instrumental in
restoring the faith and confidence of the locality in the honour and
secular image of the university. They also feel that the impeccable
reputation of the university cannot be damaged by isolated non-events
like this.
Has the incident affected the placement process?

Unfortunately yes, some of our students have been asked embarrassing
questions. Though this cannot be helped at the moment, I hope, with
the passage of time, this will stop.
Does it hurt you that despite having such an impeccable reputation you
have to stand up and declare your secular credentials?

Well, this cannot be helped, I guess. But I do hope that this phase is
short-lived, as the problems in Punjab were. I do hope that this is a
passing phase and will pass by without much damage to our great
institution.
The BJP has criticised you. Has any political party expressed
solidarity with you?

I don't want to be involved in political battles. I am keen that
political parties should not jump into the fray on this issue. We have
not had any public meeting addressed by any political leader on the
campus; we have not had any politicians visiting us.

I wanted no political tamaasha [show], no rhetoric, no speeches,
nothing. The ABVP [Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student
wing of the BJP] tried to enter the campus shouting slogans, but they
were stopped outside.
Are you convinced that your students are not guilty? Do you check
their antecedents at the time of admission?

What sort of an antecedent can a 19- or 20-year-old have? They mostly
come from poor families, from far-off areas. As for these two
[students], I can't say until the investigations are complete. It may
or may not be true, they might have been misled, brainwashed by vested
interests. I cannot vouch for that. But it is not possible for us to
check the antecedents of all students. We have no such agency at our
disposal. In fact, we have no column in our admission forms even to
identify students as Hindus or Muslims. •