Chaudhuri had studied in the department of English in Presidency College from 1967 to 1970. He had taught at Presidency College from January 1973 to December 1991 and at Jadavpur University from December 1991 till his retirement in June 2010.
“It’s a moment of great privilege and profound humility. The privilege of receiving the Atul Chandra Gupta Distinguished Alumnus award at all and that moreover at the historic 200th year of this institution is so great that my only fitting response can be to thank the alumni association warmly,” Chaudhuri said.
Picture by Pradip Sanyal
Jan. 20: "I strayed into politics by accident," Manmohan Singh said at Presidency University today, adding that he always wanted to be an academic.
On campus to deliver the keynote address at the founder's day of the 200-year-old institution, the former Prime Minister referred to "attempts to interfere with free expression of the students" in Hyderabad Central and Jawaharlal Nehru universities without naming the Narendra Modi government.
Excerpts from what he said
Strayed into politics
It is truly a great honour for me to be invited at the bicentenary celebrations of Presidency University. I strayed into politics by accident. I have always wanted to be a teacher. Whenever I get an invitation from a university, I do not miss.
Brush with illustrious alumni
I have had the privilege of knowing many illustrious Presidency faculty and alumni. Professor Sukhamoy Chakravarty was a dear friend, as is professor Amartya Sen.
As a member of Parliament and as a Speaker of our Lok Sabha, Shri Somnath Chatterjee was always kind to me and I learnt a great deal from him.
I had many fruitful exchanges with Shri Jyoti Basu and Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, two very distinguished chief ministers of West Bengal. I should also mention Shri Siddhartha Shankar Ray, who was also a great chief minister of West Bengal.
Bengal's finance ministers
I also had many useful discussions on economic policies with Shri Ashim Dasgupta, the former finance minister of Bengal. Shri Amit Mitra, who is now the finance minister, was my student at the Delhi School of Economics.
University education
Every university must give its students the freedom to pursue knowledge, even where that knowledge may be at odds with the established intellectual and social tradition. We must guard this freedom very zealously.
In a seminal work, "The Idea of a University", Cardinal John Henry Newman said a university is a place "in which the intellect may safely range and speculate, sure to find its equal in some antagonist activity, and its judge in the tribunal of truth. It is a place where enquiry is pushed forward and discoveries verified and perfected, and rashness rendered innocuous and error exposed by the collision of mind with mind and knowledge with knowledge".
Regrettably, independent thinking and free expression at Indian universities are now under threat.
Recent attempts to interfere with free expression of the students community in Hyderabad Central University and Jawaharlal Nehru University are of particular concern.
Attempts to suppress peaceful dissent are not only inimical to learning, they are also undemocratic.
We must make every effort to protect the autonomy of our universities and to foster the right of our students to express ideas that powerful interests may not always agree with.
We are witnessing around the world a rise in new nationalism tendencies, responding to populism and directing hatred against backward classes and minorities.
In disregarding reason and rationality and privileging raw emotion, these tendencies can be extremely destructive.
We must protect India from this trend and the universities have a vital role to play in this regard.
For it is our universities that prepare Indian citizens to distinguish fact from fiction, to disregard propaganda and to be unafraid to speak their mind.
True nationalism is for all. Where our students, our citizens are encouraged to think freely and to speak freely, where dissent is encouraged and not suppressed.
Our willingness and ability to engage with dissent is a sign of our inherent strength.
In December 1947, four months after Independence, our first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said at Allahabad University: "A university stands for humanism, for tolerance, for reason, for progress, for the adventure of ideas and for the search of truth. It stands for the onward march of the human race towards even higher objectives.
"A vast responsibility therefore rests with our universities. They have to keep their lights burning and must not stray from the right path even when passion convulses the multitude and blinds many amongst those whose duty it is to set an example to others".
India is a vast country with vast potential. Among her countless assets are our young people who depend on universities like Presidency to prepare them to be critical thinking, contributing members of Indian society.
India must grow and grow rapidly to find pragmatic solutions to the problems of poverty and inequalities and to create a climate in which internal tensions can be resolved without recourse to violence.
At the same time, we must ensure that our environmental resources, land, water and air are appropriately managed to make our development truly sustainable.
Ladies and gentlemen, for 200 years Presidency University has played an indispensable role in the progress of our great country in the pursuit of knowledge and in preparing our polity for self-inquiry and critical thinking.
Our country is fortunate to have an institution of such immense capability and stature, ready to play its role for countless more centuries to come.
