The images of the ongoing, horrific brutality by Israel’s defence forces in Gaza in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks by Hamas on October 7 will move most people emotionally — and in many cases, even politically.
The detention of over 2,000 students across universities in the US and the presence of armed riot police on campuses marks a leadership failure in some of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in the world. This failure is administrative, pedagogical and more broadly, philosophical. It involves shifting answers to complex questions around free expression and security, “cancelling” and nuance, outrage and engagement. Comparisons have been made between the current protests and those in 1968. They ignore one crucial difference: In the ’60s, students formed a compact with broader society in which sections of the privileged stood with the discriminated to demand racial equality, alongside questioning the Vietnam War. The current protest, till now, seems to draw a line between the larger society, politics and the campus.
The images of the ongoing, horrific brutality by Israel’s defence forces in Gaza in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks by Hamas on October 7 will move most people emotionally — and in many cases, even politically. The passionate response from students is thus understandable and predictable. That said, the pro-Gaza “encampments” — which began with Columbia University in New York and have since spread across the country and beyond — have also been marked by maximalist slogans and demands. America’s free speech laws are almost absolute, allowing for what many would even consider hate speech. Campuses — like private workplaces — however, have their own rules regarding offence, racism, xenophobic statements and calls to violence. In situations such as the current one, university administrations have to negotiate a balance between the campus as a space for expression on the one hand and order and safety on the other. They have failed so far. The most important question that arises in the wake of the turmoil is this: Why have the most international, cosmopolitan spaces, with vast intellectual resources, floundered in creating avenues for genuine debate between competing ideas?
The inability of most institutions to effectively facilitate a conversation is being seen by many as a result of a culture of their own making. The much-discussed “cancel culture” has, at least in part, eschewed nuance for moral certainty and signalled to many that taking offence can be the basis of a political grand narrative. The “encampments” could have been a moment to teach and learn. To understand why some conflicts and victims grab more attention than others — whether in Ukraine, Palestine, Yemen or Afghanistan. And, to debate the complex nature of how multinational corporations function and how universities are funded. The US universities will, in all likelihood, emerge from this with some lessons and continue to attract students from around the world. But the moment a university has to call in the police must be one of reckoning and self-examination.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 06-05-2024 at 08:12 IST
