The Glory Days – Nalanda University one of the ancient universities on earth along with Taxila and Vikramashila were the torchbearers of our ancient civilization to the world which has sadly been turned into ruins by Islamic invasions in the late 11th century India, the time when Muslim rulers plundered anything and everything which came in their way.
The ancient place taught students subjects like Buddhist Traditions, Vedas, Linguistics, Medicine, Maths, Philosophy, Law and everything which helped in prospering Humanity. Sadly nothing can be done to Taxila which is considered to be one of the earliest universities around the globe dating back to 6th century BCE, since it is now part of present day Pakistan which thinks time started from the birth of Muhammad at 7th century AD and anything prior to it was Jahalat(Ignorance or Darkness).
But, much can be done to Nalanda to renew our lost heritage and to feel pride in our ancestors who had the most modern education of their times and subsequently which will help in a great deal to bring Bharat back to its Glorious days as the center of learning.
After independence-Though India got independence on 1947, it was only in 2006 when Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam proposed the idea of restoring the lost glory of Nalanda. Nitish Kumar govt. which was in power at that time along with BJP also helped in speeding the initiative. Prior to that ‘secular’ govt. of Congress at the center and Lalu at the state were too busy appeasing the minorities which even went to such an extent where he was planning to rename Patna as Azimabad to ‘please the minority vote bank’. Bihar which was the center of ancient India and the place of mighty Gupta, Harsha and Mauryan empires is now one of the poorest states in the country thanks to the Congress and other secular governments for whom ancient India means nothing. As Swami Vivekananda rightly said-“No amount of force, or government, or legislative cruelty will change the conditions of a race, but it is spiritual culture and ethical culture alone that can change wrong racial tendencies for the better”
Current Status: -The Nalanda University bill were passed in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in the year 2010. With 15 students the University started its first academic session in September 2014 after Narendra Modi came into power. George Yeo, a Singaporean political leader was made the first chancellor of Nalanda University in an attempt to attract funds from East & South East Asian countries like China, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Australia keeping in mind the international dimension of the place which had a cord with these countries from 6th century BCE, he resigned in November last year due to “lack of autonomy”.
Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan recipient Vijay Bhatkar, also known as the Father of India’s first supercomputer and the national president of RSS-affiliated science body Vijanan Bharti will now take over the role of new chancellor.
Bhatkar played an instrumental role in launching India’s first supercomputer PARAM back in 1991. His experience in setting up of institutions, which served the nation like C-Dac, IIITM-K, ER&DC and India International Multiversity will help in a long way in reviving the past glory of the university. He is an alma matter of IIT-Delhi and is also currently serving as a chairman of their Board of governors.
Spread over a 443-acre campus it has till now been able to receive Rs. 60 crore as International funding and Nitish Kumar himself is very keen on the project since it would bring world class education infrastructure in his state. Nalanda being his constituent assembly he is further pushing things up. With a modern campus expected to be completed by 2020, we just hope that Mr. Bhatkar takes the matter into his own hands and starts to fulfill the expectations of the country as quickly as possible. Already much delay has happened due to a lackluster attitude of previous governments and undue political interference which has only prevented the youth of the country from availing a world class facility in one of India’s most populous region.
The western countries have grown leaps and bounds in the past couple of centuries, all due to their world class institutes like Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Yale etc. which have become magets for students around the globe and whose research facilities have changed the way we live our lives. Although we have done considerably good work with our IIT’s and IIMs still we are far behind in terms of Global rankings with not even a single of them getting mentioned in the top 100 institutes in the world.
Expecting Nalanda to become a place where cultures mix across human race and where something greater can be created for mankind which will restore India’s glory to the world the same way our ancestors have done.
https://scroll.in/…/how-a-chancellor-with-rsss-links-goes-ag…
https://thewire.in/103609/vijay-bhatkar-naalanda-university/
http://indianexpress.com/…/nalandauniversity-gets-a-new-v…/
http://www.hindustantimes.com/…/story-9474yk5VcJfBaYIs4EZC8…