New Delhi, Jan. 21: The government today appointed an IIT professor said to be linked to an organisation with Sangh ideology as the next man to head the Jawaharlal Nehru University, often dubbed the centre of Left politics, but the new VC said he intended to take "everybody along".
M. Jagadesh Kumar, a professor of electrical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, said his focus was on "nation building".
"The heterogeneous character of JNU is its strength," Kumar told The Telegraph . "I will put all efforts to work together and take everybody along for nation building."
Kumar's appointment comes two months after Panchjanya, which is aligned to the Sangh, published an article that claimed JNU was home to "a huge anti-national block which has the aim of disintegrating India".
The article had claimed that pro-Maoist student unions celebrated the killing of 75 CRPF personnel in a Maoist attack in Dantewada.
The new VC, who takes charge on January 27, is said to be associated with Vijnana Bharati, an organisation started in 1991 by scientists with Sangh leanings. He was actively involved with a science festival conducted by Vijnana Bharati and the department of science and technology of IIT Delhi last month.
Kumar, who would succeed Sudhir Sopory, denied any "formal association" with Vijnana Bharati or the Sangh, the BJP's ideological fountainhead. "I do not have any formal association with Vijnana Bharati or the RSS. I certainly visited some of the stalls at the science festival," he said.
Kumar said it was natural for students to follow different ideologies but everybody should respect each other's views. "I believe in freedom of expression. As long as our thoughts and deeds are within the boundary of law, students can do whatever they want to."
He said there were chances of accusations where the boundaries of law are not clearly defined. "But I will sit with the student groups and make them understand the importance of respecting each other's views."
Professor C.P. Bhambri, a social scientist and former JNU professor, said a teacher of engineering who has not worked in a conventional multi-disciplinary university like JNU might face difficulties in managing the institute. Someone who has worked in the university system should have been appointed, he said.
"I am not discussing an individual. JNU has no engineering discipline. When ideas are thrown from faculty in forums such as the academic council, the VC has to give academic leadership. But he is not from this system," Bhambri said.
He said the human resource development ministry had adopted the IAS model under which domain knowledge is not important and a civil servant could be appointed in any department.
Professor Faizan Mustafa, vice-chancellor of the National Academy of Legal Study and Research, did not agree. He cited the example of Zameer Uddin Shah, who served as deputy chief of army staff and was appointed vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University by the UPA government in 2012.
"It is the responsibility of the search committee to ensure that the persons recommended have academic and administrative experience," Mustafa said.
Kumar said he was not a stranger to a multi-disciplinary institution as the IITs offered courses in humanities and pure science too. He said he would focus on improving the learning environment at JNU and push for more collaborative research, while teaching needed to be more interactive.
Like in the IITs, he added, students should be provided with laptops in classrooms so that they can access e-learning material to supplement their learning.
