Page 26 - EW December 2023

Education News

and should adhere to public maker, actor and theatre
order, decency and morality. In director. One of the char-
short, foreign universities that acters in the film is Zakaria
establish campuses in India will Zubeidi, a former military
be tightly controlled through commander of the armed
discretionary rules and regula- wing of Fatah, the Al Aqsa
tions. Martyrs’ Brigades. Fatah
“The UGC Regulations (aka Palestine Authority) is
have numerous provisions a political party founded by
that are vague and open to Yasser Arafat and currently
interpretation. These days governs Palestine (aka the
onus is on host countries to West Bank) after it was
create attractive and enabling ousted from Gaza in 2006
ecosystems for world-class by Hamas. It’s pertinent to
universities to set up campuses note that an election has
in host countries. In some cases IIT-B campus. Inset: Sudhanva Deshpande not been held in Gaza since
host countries provide land then.
and funding to foreign varsities. MAHARASHTRA This lecture aroused the indigna-
My humble suggestion is that Unexpected fallout tion of Omkar Supekar, a doctoral
we should focus on how Indian student at IIT-B who registered a
universities can collaborate with complaint at the Powai Police Sta-
leading international universities. lthough the latest israel- tion against Prof. Sharmistha
This will not only help us to fulfill Hamas war that began on Oc- Saha, head of the humanities de-
the vision of NEP 2020, but also Atober 7 when Hamas militia partment, for misuse of authority by
create extraordinary opportunities crossed into Israel and took Israeli inviting Deshpande to introduce the
for students and faculty in India citizens — mainly women and chil- documentary. According to Supekar,
to engage with leading universities dren — hostage resulting in relentless “Deshpande has a record of glorifying
of the world. The capital-intensive bombing of the Gaza strip governed Palestinian terrorist Zakaria Zubeidi.
campuses investment model by Hamas hasn’t impacted the tenor This has troubling consequences for
envisaged by UGC will not work in of life in India, it has had an unex- the academic integrity and safety of
India and runs the risk of making pected fallout on the serene 550-acre IIT- Bombay.”
higher education highly inaccessible campus of the top-ranked Indian In- Supekar recorded the lecture on
and non-inclusive,” warns Dr. stitute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B, his mobile phone and posted it on-
C. Raj Kumar, vice chancellor estb.1958). Unexpected, because IIT- line. This prompted a protest by the
of the private top-ranked O.P. B is essentially as the name implies, a Vivek Vichar Mancha, a right-wing
Jindal Global University, Sonipat tech education institute. And it’s one outfit which shouted slogans against
(Haryana). of India’s most respected universities. Prof. Saha and demanded Saha and
Adds Prof. Sudhir Sopory, A not so well-known fact is that Deshpande’s arrest.
former vice chancellor of the high- perhaps in anticipation of criticism According to Deshpande, Zubeidi is
ranked Jawaharlal Nehru University, that IIT graduates would be “tunnel- not a terrorist by any yardstick of mea-
Delhi: “If these rules and regula- vision techies” oblivious of history surement. In an interview with this
tions are enacted, the best that can and the social sciences, ab initio IIT- correspondent, he explained, “When
be expected is foreign universities B has also hosted a Department of I met Zubeidi in Palestine in 2015, he
entering India in asset light form, Social Sciences on its sprawling green had given up arms and was advocat-
partnering with local universities/ campus overlooking Powai lake in ing cultural resistance. He highlighted
edupreneurs to export intellectual Mumbai/Bombay. Students are free to the value of culture in the Palestinian
property without investing in back- select humanities subjects as electives freedom struggle. In my talk at IIT-B,
home style capital-intensive cam- and the institute also awards degrees I described Zubeidi as a ‘visionary’
puses.” in English and social science subjects. because he envisaged a future where
Evidently UGC babus are unaware On November 6 the social sciences the entire territory of historic Pales-
that in foreign universities which department invited actor and author tine would be a single nation, in which
have built reputations over decades, Sudhanva Deshpande to deliver a all citizens — Arabs, Jews, Christians,
if not centuries, they take the word lecture to introduce a 2004 documen- and others — would have equal rights.
“autonomy” seriously. tary film, Arna’s Children, made by The media has run a malicious disin-
Autar Nehru (Delhi) Juliano Mer Khamis, an Israeli film- formation campaign against me and

26 EDUCATIONWORLD DECEMBER 2023