The Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) in Vadodara, Gujarat, is amongst the top universities in the country with a global reputation. MSU’s Fine Arts College is reputed nationally and internationally for upholding the highest standards of creative and critical practice. It is also reputed for its commitment to the freedom of expression. Last month, however, this prestigious institute hit the headlines as one more target of police-supported Hindutva hooligans in Modi state where the rule of law is an alien concept.

On May 9, 2007 the saffron brigade, led by an advocate, Niraj Jain, stormed the university premises. The cause of their misplaced rage was a painting by Chandra Mohan, a student from the graphics department of the fine arts college in Vadodara, which was part of a collection of students’ paintings displayed for assessment by examiners for a master’s degree in fine arts. Mohan’s painting, depicting nude figures with some religious motifs, allegedly hurt "Hindu religious sentiments". This was enough for the self-appointed moral police to barge into the campus, disrupt the annual examinations in progress and beat Mohan up.

What is even more shocking is the role of the police. Instead of taking action against the lawbreakers, the police promptly arrested the unfortunate student and charged him under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (section 153 – Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, etc, section 114 – Abettor present when offence is committed, section 295 A – Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs). They opposed his being given bail and had him locked up in Vadodara’s Central Jail for five days. As if that was not enough, the vice chancellor (VC) of MSU, Dr Manoj Soni, was party to the ugly episode. Instead of upholding the dignity of his university, speaking up for Chandra Mohan and demanding police action against Niraj Jain and his hoodlums, Soni chose to suspend the dean of the fine arts faculty, Prof Shivaji Panikkar.

Freedom of the arts and literature are vital in any democracy. There may be divergent views on this sensitive issue. Accredited artists of high calibre, refinement and culture are those fit to comment on works of art. What constitutes beauty and what is obscenity cannot be decided by a self-constituted moral brigade. The way the exhibition was displayed by students of the fine arts faculty establishes that it was clearly meant for academic evaluation in the annual examination.

The exhibition was ransacked by the saffron brigade with the help of the police armed with a magistrate’s order. Such an action within the precincts of an academic institution of high repute, under the nose of the VC and the university’s administrative authority, is unthinkable. Right-thinking persons across the country have been appalled by this fascist act and have come out openly in solidarity with the protesting students and faculty of the MSU. Within Gujarat and, in particular, amongst teachers and students of MSU, the latest incident is being seen as part of a concerted attempt by the sangh parivar to subvert the autonomy of institutes of higher learning and to bring them under saffron sway.

The process, started when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed power in the state some 10 years ago, only accelerated after the 2002 carnage. Though a similar communalisation of the campus has been under way in other universities in Gujarat, a vibrant struggle has emerged within the MSU to challenge it. Against all odds, both teachers and students at MSU are resisting the nefarious plan to destroy their powers of resistance and to trample on the autonomy of MSU and thus pave the way for absolute control of the university by the Hindutva brigade.

In a way, this phenomenon is part of the two-decade old effort by different political parties across the country to undermine the autonomy of universities following the National Policy of Education, 1986 coupled with directives of GATT and the WTO. Be it the Congress party in states where they are in power, or the CPI (M)-led Left government in West Bengal and Kerala, most political parties, ‘national’ or ‘regional’, are uncomfortable with genuine autonomy for universities.

Far from being the exception, the previous National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre and the Modi-led BJP government in Gujarat have aggressively intensified the process. They have not only appointed puppets as vice chancellors but taken the exercise many steps further by actively choosing those committed to the sangh parivar’s hate politics for these critical and prestigious posts.

The result of such blatant attempts at academic control by politicians and political parties has resulted in syllabi being redesigned with a view to shun the rational and scientific outlook and doctor young minds. In a nutshell, the democratisation of education has been severely arrested.

The unchallenged practice by all political parties to control institutions has made the BJP’s job even easier. Whenever it comes to power the BJP uses these unhealthy precedents, albeit more aggressively. Wherever it is in control of state governments, the sangh parivar, in its bid to universalise Hindutva ideology, is going for all out saffronisation even as it destroys the very fabric of democratic, secular and scientific education.

The marauders chose examination time for their assault on the Fine Arts College with the objective of rousing communal passions in Vadodara. The faculty was targeted because its students and teachers had dared to stand up to the puppet vice chancellor, Manoj Soni. The backdrop to the incident was the earlier uncalled for thrashing of a student from the arts faculty by a security guard at the instance of a hostel warden. Strong protests from students of the faculty, backed by their dean, Prof Shivaji Panikkar, left the atmosphere within MSU smouldering. Clearly the VC is out to teach this independent faculty a lesson.

Following the 2002 carnage, the MSU was brought totally under the control of the BJP and its mentor group, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In 2003 the University Syndicate, the highest decision-making body which formulates rules and regulations in the university, was completely in the grip of the sangh parivar. For the first time in the history of MSU, there was no voice of dissent at any of the syndicate meetings. Many non-academics and persons of low calibre were made senate members by the Gujarat government. The academic year 2003-04 sounded the death knell for MSU as various anti-student, anti-education measures were taken by university authorities.

Only those with unflinching loyalty to sangh ideology could climb the ladder of academic success. After the 2002 carnage, most of the VCs appointed to various universities in Gujarat owed their allegiance to the ruling party. The current VC, Dr Soni was rewarded with this post for praising Modi and eulogising the carnage. The university magazine of the arts faculty was not allowed to publish a resolution condemning the communal carnage. Nor was there was any official condemnation on the murderous attack on Prof Jussar Bandukwala, a senior faculty member of the MSU, during the 2002 violence.

The atmosphere of free debate, discussion and democratic dissent has been vitiated by the saffron brigade for some time now. In 2003, activists of the BJP’s youth wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), destroyed placards against the US invasion of Iraq put up by the all-India Democratic Students’ Organisation (DSO). In September 2002, RSS syndicate members and ABVP activists stalled a seminar sponsored by the University Grants Commission and organised by the department of history, where Islamic scholar, Asghar Ali Engineer, was scheduled to be the main speaker.

In 2003, DSO was denied permission to organise a cultural festival in the fine arts faculty hall even though non-university related organisations, including religious bodies, are regularly permitted to hold their functions there. The DSO was being thwarted because it had led two successful student agitations resulting in the emergence of a genuine students’ movement in MSU.

The ‘hostel movement’ in 2004 was a big blow to saffron forces. In June 2004, when students were leaving after exams were over, the University Syndicate arbitrarily decided to close down two boys’ hostels: Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Hall and Manubhai Mehta (MM) Hall. It also introduced some major changes in the hostel administration, including the centralisation of power in the hands of the chief warden. Being a residential university, MSU has 12 boys’ hostels and four girls’ hostels. These hostels can accommodate only 3,500 students, which is inadequate for the existing strength of students.

DSO launched a movement against the closure of the hostels. The authorities had to give in to students’ demands after students’ gheraoed the VC for about eight hours on August 15, 2004. This was the first time in years that the BJP/RSS syndicate was compelled to bend before a democratic movement.

MSU’s current VC, Manoj Soni, is a former student of the university. Previously a reader in the political science department of Sardar Patel University, Anand, he took over as VC of MSU on April 17, 2005. What surprised many was the appointment of such an inexperienced person to manage such a prestigious institution. Ironically, he would have been content with the post of reader in the political science department at MSU.

Soni’s proximity to Modi was one of the factors responsible in catapulting him to the top post. He is understood to be the brain behind the draft of the Common University Act, an enactment intended to destroy the autonomy of universities. He is the youngest VC that MSU has had. While the BJP/RSS lobby loves him, those who oppose the Common University Act see him as a man specially brought in by the Modi government to prepare the ground for the implementation of the Common University Act.

After taking over as VC in April 2005, Soni briefly tried to cultivate the image of a popular student-friendly VC. But the pretence did not last long. Barely three months later, he sat on hunger strike in the company of BJP/RSS leaders opposing a students’ agitation. What came as a shock to many in the MSU was the brutal use of force against agitating students on July 18, 2005 in the VC’s presence. Instead of intervening, Dr Soni said, "They were shouting for justice, and justice has been given to them."

The Common University Act (CUA) was a draconian move by the state government to bring all universities in the state under tighter political and bureaucratic government control. A successful agitation launched jointly by teachers and students prevented the Act’s implementation. However, Soni is already imposing provisions of the CUA indirectly – by victimising students, punishing members of the teaching faculty and interfering in the day-to-day academic affairs of various faculties. He is trampling on academic freedom and the autonomy of the university, blatantly trying to let university affairs be run from Gandhinagar. This was evident during the recent incident at the fine arts faculty of MSU and especially given the antecedents of many who stormed its gates.

The student community has played an important role in various movements to safeguard university autonomy and oppose the anti-education polices of university authorities and the state government. To gag this rising students’ voice, MSU authorities banned the students’ election in 2005-06. A Students’ Action Committee then launched a movement against this step. Elections were held a year later, in 2006, in an extremely tense and repressive atmosphere.

That year, the VC’s anti-student attitude was once again on display, this time during the agitation for admissions to the master of arts’ history course when some female students lay down in protest outside the VC’s office. Instead of hearing their pleas, Soni simply walked over the agitating students! Ultimately, the protest movement succeeded but the VC’s arrogance shocked all right-thinking persons in Vadodara.

As with students, so with the teaching staff. University teachers are routinely tempted by the lure of postings, promotions and positions if they toe the saffron line. Hostel wardens are also selected on the basis of their pro-RSS leanings. RSS shakhas (branch meetings) are freely allowed on the university campus.

A woman teacher in the home science faculty was denied a promotion because of the growing communalism in MSU’s administration. She has since filed a case in the Gujarat High court stating that because she, a Hindu, is married to a Muslim, she was made a victim of communal bias. Prof Bharat Mehta, a reader in the department of Gujarati literature, has also been denied promotion because of his secular credentials. Mehta has screened films on the Gujarat carnage and been active in debunking saffron propaganda about the Godhra incident and the post-Godhra genocide.

Today the autonomy of MSU is in grave danger. The VC, Soni, is out to saffronise it. The saffron brigade wants to generate a controversy around Chandra Mohan’s paintings and never mind the question of artistic freedom. "Hurting religious sentiments" is but a clever ploy used to divert attention from their true object: the issue of autonomy. Arousing people’s religious passions would of course fulfil a dual purpose and reap rich political dividends before assembly elections in the state.

Hence all efforts need to be concentrated on supporting the struggle by students and teachers to ensure the autonomy of MSU. The saffron brigade and the ABVP are out to confuse and divide the university’s students. While Congress (I)’s student wing, the National Students Union of India, is also playing a short-sighted and divisive role.