The state of Florida has set a new example against leftist propaganda. Florida has a business-friendly climate, which has seen major companies relocate to the state. Immigrants can easily start an LLC in Florida and other types of businesses. The Republicans in Florida brought a bill regarding what they refer to as “Marxist professors and students” in the state’s public universities and colleges. The bill seeks to battle political bias in such public institutions by encouraging reporting lectures believed to be undermining “viewpoint diversity” on campus.
The bill, currently awaiting signature of Governor Ron DeSantis, will allow students to record lectures without their Professors’ consent and present them as evidence of political bias. Now, we know how radical, far-left ideology has a tendency of creeping into academic institutions across the world including India. So, India does really need similar legislation if it has to keep its university campuses free of ideological radicalism.
There have been numerous such cases reported in India where university campuses faced political bias or ideological indoctrination. At the outset names like JNU, Jamia Milia Islamia University, Jadhavpur University, and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) do come to mind.
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Often, such universities have found themselves at the centre of unfortunate controversies, be it Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s portrait at AMU or demonstration in JNU over the death anniversary of terrorist Afzal Guru who was convicted in the Parliament attack case.
Very often, some of the most high-profile universities faced controversies about professors spreading far-left propaganda in university campuses. In some cases, professors were alleged of carrying deep political bias, while in other cases, some professors are presently facing legal proceedings on serious charges.
Take for example Delhi University professor GN Saibaba. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Maharashtra court in 2017 for his links with Left-wing extremist groups. Moreover, he has also been terminated from his services at Ram Lal Anand College of Delhi University. Similarly, Varavara Rao was arrested in 2018 for his alleged involvement in the Bhima-Koregaon violence on January 1, 2018. Throughout his career, Rao was particularly active in teaching and served at several private colleges as a lecturer.
https://twitter.com/MNageswarRaoIPS/status/1329078927386546178?s=20
Last year, another DU professor Hany Babu was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case. An NIA official reportedly said that during the investigation, it was alleged that Hany Babu was spreading naval activities and Maoist ideology. The NIA official also said that Babu was also accused of being a “co-conspirator” with the other arrested accused.
In fact, in many university campuses and colleges across the country, it is easy to find lecturers who defame security forces or legitimise acts of violence committed by the Naxals or jihadi terrorists in the Kashmir valley. Only the high profile cases come in the public glare, but far-left, radical ideology does remain an issue at the grassroots level. Not all cases get reported and many times there are not enough channels to bring ideological bias into the limelight.
However, if a law similar to the latest bill in Florida is applied in India, then university students would be able to expose many names and get rid of ideological bias or even anti-India sentiment. An average citizen doesn’t only have the fundamental right to access education, but also a right to access bias-free education. Therefore, students ought to be made activists who can record and report their professors, if needed.