Keeping academia free of politics: Part 2

 
The KIIT episode shows that no academic campus is immune to political interference (link).
 
A few kilometers from KIIT, Bhubaneswar, lies Utkal University, the oldest university in Odisha and the 17th oldest in India. The university used to be counted among the best in India. Most young people outside Odisha might not have heard its name, and that is for a reason.
 
Starting in the late ’80s, when the economy was in ruins due to decades of Soviet-style experiments, jobs became non-existent, and one good option left for bright students was to join politics. Most political parties found an unlimited supply of potential foot soldiers on campuses and used them as training grounds for their new recruits. Unsurprisingly, violence became the new language for students, and each student leader wanted to outperform others (link).
 
Middle-class parents thus preferred to send their kids to technical colleges. Technical campuses like IITs had a much higher degree of administrative autonomy, which helped them keep politics away.
 
With the opening of the economy in the early 90s, the demand for skilled workers increased exponentially, particularly due to the IT revolution. Private colleges like KIIT entered the market at the right time and quickly rose to prominence, mainly due to their ability to keep politics away.
 
Nevertheless, the recent episode at KIIT highlights that even private technical campuses are not immune to politics. KIIT handled the situation badly, but if you think the entire episode was only about a student protest, you are too naive. All major political parties entered the scene soon after videos of Nepali students being removed from the campus went viral.

In my observation, academic institutions are either underestimating the power of social media in shaping narratives or avoiding it altogether. Neither is a good long-term strategy.
 
I am not saying students should remain politically illiterate. However, one does not need to join a political party to gain political literacy. I always encourage the formation of forums for discussions of ideas, including those related to politics.
 
Open debates and discussions should be the norm, not protest rallies and violence.