Democracy, Politics and Violence in the Campus
Cyriac Thomas
Former Vice-Chancellor,
Mahatma Gandhi University
Democracy remains the most popular system of governance and comparatively the most acceptable system –democracy may not be considered by all shades as the best system – but certainly democracy stands the best available system – in any process of democracy politics is an inevitable and unavoidable factor – no democracy can properly function without politics, parties, pressure groups and interest groups – organized bargaining has come to stay as an effective instrument and methodology in all political processes in any democratic set up – it is absolutely incorrect and to a considerable extent dangerous too to succumb to the propaganda that politics is something sinful, wrong or a dangerous specialization. – true politics is serene and sacred - it is the politicians who make it otherwise – in any democracy the future depends on the younger generation and hence a proper and healthy training for them in all democratic processes seems a must – campus should provide the student with a positive awareness of politics and they should be provided with opportunities to learn the style of functioning of every mechanism in democracy – campus politics and campus violence are fundamentally different and not to be taken mutually complementary – democratic processes in the campus has to be strengthened but any form of violence in the campus has to be discarded or abanded and possibly can even be banned – campus should be made the training ground of good citizens and effective politicians and successful parliamentarians – but enough care has to be taken that no campus should become a breeding ground for criminals, law breakers or terrorists in the given Indian situation – campus should promote a balance of vision on social and relevant issues and an equally balanced approach in politics– psychologically, intellectually and socially – campus should strengthen academic politics – ideological confrontations will certainly prove healthy in promoting true democratic spirit – but personal and physical confrontations and conflicts will only vitiate the campus and defeat the true spirit of democracy as it is a negation of tolerance for the ‘other view’ and will reflect only a dictatorial or totalitarian attitude – Dialogue and debate should make the campus worth its value – often clamour for freedom in the campus is raised by student groups when they form a minority political group and once they gain an upper hand they also tend to follow the earlier style of their adversaries and lay all possible blocks to prevent the free exercise of freedom of their political rivals in the campus – Blame is not to be placed on students alone for this style or pattern of behaviour as the senior leaders put example for them – The violence and intolerance often demonstrated in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies also provide a very negative message to the younger ones in the campus too – Corrective measures should be immediately initiated more in the society than in the campus inorder to free democracy, politics and also the campus from violence.
Cyriac Thomas
Former Vice-Chancellor,
Mahatma Gandhi University
Democracy remains the most popular system of governance and comparatively the most acceptable system –democracy may not be considered by all shades as the best system – but certainly democracy stands the best available system – in any process of democracy politics is an inevitable and unavoidable factor – no democracy can properly function without politics, parties, pressure groups and interest groups – organized bargaining has come to stay as an effective instrument and methodology in all political processes in any democratic set up – it is absolutely incorrect and to a considerable extent dangerous too to succumb to the propaganda that politics is something sinful, wrong or a dangerous specialization. – true politics is serene and sacred - it is the politicians who make it otherwise – in any democracy the future depends on the younger generation and hence a proper and healthy training for them in all democratic processes seems a must – campus should provide the student with a positive awareness of politics and they should be provided with opportunities to learn the style of functioning of every mechanism in democracy – campus politics and campus violence are fundamentally different and not to be taken mutually complementary – democratic processes in the campus has to be strengthened but any form of violence in the campus has to be discarded or abanded and possibly can even be banned – campus should be made the training ground of good citizens and effective politicians and successful parliamentarians – but enough care has to be taken that no campus should become a breeding ground for criminals, law breakers or terrorists in the given Indian situation – campus should promote a balance of vision on social and relevant issues and an equally balanced approach in politics– psychologically, intellectually and socially – campus should strengthen academic politics – ideological confrontations will certainly prove healthy in promoting true democratic spirit – but personal and physical confrontations and conflicts will only vitiate the campus and defeat the true spirit of democracy as it is a negation of tolerance for the ‘other view’ and will reflect only a dictatorial or totalitarian attitude – Dialogue and debate should make the campus worth its value – often clamour for freedom in the campus is raised by student groups when they form a minority political group and once they gain an upper hand they also tend to follow the earlier style of their adversaries and lay all possible blocks to prevent the free exercise of freedom of their political rivals in the campus – Blame is not to be placed on students alone for this style or pattern of behaviour as the senior leaders put example for them – The violence and intolerance often demonstrated in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies also provide a very negative message to the younger ones in the campus too – Corrective measures should be immediately initiated more in the society than in the campus inorder to free democracy, politics and also the campus from violence.
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