Call to Rename JNU After Vivekananda Angers Students

New Delhi, 18 Nov 2020 [Fik/News Sources]: A Bharatiya Janata Party leader’s demand that Delhi’s premier institute, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), be renamed as Swami Vivekananda University has stirred up a hornet’s nest and angered the students of the famed varsity.

On Monday, BJP’s national general secretary for Maharashtra, Goa and Tamil Nadu, C.T. Ravi had in his tweet also argued that Vivekananda being a patriotic saint, he would be a source of inspiration for students of the varsity.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh tweeted against the suggestion, asking why the government instead could not build new universities.

According to Ghosh, the BJP and its leaders have a long history of renaming the places, institutions and roads, adding that Allahabad, Mughal Sarai, Sarai Kale Khan, Aurangzeb Road and others have been renamed from time to time.

JNUSU general secretary, Satish told Clarion India that it was nothing but an election propaganda for poll-bound West Bengal to divert the attention of masses and students from the real issues. People in West Bengal hold Swami Vivekananda in high spirits.

“Last year, the government had changed the name of a library in the institution via JNU administration but along with that government started fund cuts for the library”, Satish told Clarion India in a telephonic conversation.

JNU has been a constant target for the right-wing Hindutva brigade for quite some time. Last year, BJP MP Hansraj Hans had suggested renaming the varsity after Modi. Satish said, “renaming brings nothing to the institution or the place. It does not help the development”.

One of the founding authors of the website Nehruvian.com, Aditya said that renaming of an existing institution was an agenda of petty politics by BJP in an attempt to delete the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru.

“This attack is not just limited to this institute only but extends up to maligning the current rival Congress Party leaders Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, who happen to be Nehru’s descendents, in order to gain political benefits”, he added.

Aditya said that BJP was just using Swami Vivekananda’s name for its ulterior motives and went contrary to his teachings. “If the government wants something in the name of Vivekananada, they should build a new university, hospital and other institutions”, he added.

He also said that Vivekananda himself believed in the acceptance of all faiths in India. “BJP brings CAA, NRC but can’t stand on the principles of Vivekananda who believed in “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” i.e. the world is a family.”

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, via video conferencing, unveiled a statue of Vivekananda on the JNU campus. JNUSU had staged a demonstration and also written an open letter addressing Modi.