Reflections in Amrit Kaal: Notes from Delhi University’s 101st Convocation Ceremony
22 February 2025 | Delhi University
The 101st Annual Convocation of Delhi University was graced with the presence of the Union Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan. Whilst it is certainly not uncommon for political dignitaries to be invited to such convocations––DU can boast quite the saffron studded list having invited Venkaiah Naidu, Draupadi Murmu and Rajnath Singh in the recent past––it would be worthwhile to reflect on what is shared on this momentous occasion as thousands of students are conferred their degrees.
The Vice Chancellor’s address exalted service to the nation––quoting Ramavtar Tyagi’s ‘Samarpan’ and transitioning seamlessly to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Vande Mataram. The context of the national song featuring in Chattopadhyay’s Anandamath, which students of history are painfully aware of, remained a haunting absence-presence of the entire presentation––the serene landscapes quickly transform into a demon slaying goddess, armed to eliminate ‘enemies’ of the nation in subsequent verses. The theme of service is underpinned by the persecution of those who commit ‘disservice’.
Singh emphasized the importance of one’s own happiness acting as a motivating factor to produce the best results quoting none other than Tulsi Das, whose efforts to produce the Ramcharitmanas were guided by his own sukh (happiness) i.e. the mammoth task never felt laborious. However, Singh’s ruminations on sukh, nishtha (dedication) and kalyan (welfare) were quickly interrupted by an important caveat––if there were to be a conflict of interest between oneself and the state, one must surrender one’s own interests or alter them to suit the needs of the state. He made students pledge––hum apni zindagi mein aisa koi kam nahi karenge jo desh ke khilaaf ho (in our lives, we shall not do any such thing which is against the state).
Dharmendra Pradhan did not miss the opportunity to dwell on Delhi’s new Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s links to Delhi University. Moreover, anticipating the success of the new ‘double engine’, he remarked that the issues with the troublesome twelve colleges of DU (funded by the state government) would now be resolved. The Education Minister’s address was tinged with irony. He praised DU for being a forum which invites dialogue at a time when students face unquestioned expulsions or charges of vandalism for writing ‘objectionable’ slogans––objectionability defined by the degree of challenge to the state. In fact, Pradhan applauded DU’s role in questioning changes to the Constitution during the Emergency but in recent memory, DU was no rakshak of the Constitution when Dr Ritu Singh’s cries against caste discrimination were unheard and her protest site ‘purified’ with gaumutra and gangajal.
What is perhaps most disturbing is Pradhan’s jubilations about the Kumbh Mela. Shortly after thirty people were killed in a stampede at the Sangam site, and closer home, eighteen lives claimed at the New Delhi Railway Station, Pradhan heralded the Kumbh as a festival which invited equality. The consumerist culture that has pervaded religiosity has made it so that most punya is reserved for those who can offer the most cash; the rest are crushed under the weight of saffron-swathed VIP convoys or succumb to perverse imaginations of devotion curated in the echo chambers of Hindutva ideologues.
The Education Minister did not mince words when he identified Delhi University as the prayogshaala (laboratory) of bharatiyata. It is indeed a space for experiment. As the first to implement the NEP 2020, the University battles uncertainty––as students await their fate processed through MCQ examinations and faculty compete against barely-qualified pracharaks for teaching positions.