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Title of thesis

Jawaharlal Nehru University, which was set up in the early 1970s as a front-ranking institution of liberal education, has announced…

Title of thesis

JNU (Photo: Facebook)

Jawaharlal Nehru University, which was set up in the early 1970s as a front-ranking institution of liberal education, has announced a decision that is disingenuous in the extreme, one that verges on linguistic chauvinism. Students who have crafted their dissertations ~ M Phil and Ph D ~ have been stumped with the directive that makes it mandatory to write the title of their thesis in Hindi.

This is preposterous to say the least. No reason has been proffered either by the university authorities or the HRD ministry, which under the BJP has been keen on transforming JNU from a "red bastion" to a saffronite turf. Small wonder that the move, which takes a bow in the direction of the cow belt, has been binned by the students as a form of "severe harassment" that reinforces the intolerance of a different point of view.

Considerably inconvenienced are those research scholars who can neither speak Hindi nor write the language. After years of scholarly rigour, they are now said to be desperately looking for people, both on campus and beyond, to write the titles.

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If indeed the benchmark of a university's standing is the quality of research, the absurdity inherent in the decision is bound to deter students from pursuing their doctoral studies at JNU. The net result, therefore, could be deeply unfortunate. A central university draws students from all over the country, the striking feature being the regional representation on the campus.

Hence the weightage to all provincial languages. Yet the new embroidery in Hindi is mandatory. For a thesis written in English and capped with a Hindi title, the contrived incongruity can be breathless and not least when the dissertation is sent abroad for another round of evaluation by external examiners. A more startling instance of academic vacuity, indeed a bizarre expression of the two-language formula, will be hard to imagine.

On closer reflection, the imposition of Hindi at JNU is a double whammy for the rarefied academic circuit as well as students. It reinforces a recent circular that envisaged the Hindi translation of titles in the library, prior to the indexing of books. It is no disrespect to the national language to aver that teachers and the taught will have to grapple with a stark disconnect between the book and the title, as mentioned in the index card.

Whether it is the title of a thesis or the name of a book on science, it can be almost impossible to devise a Hindi equivalent. The impact can even be hilarious were it not for the profound implications for the raison d'etre of any university ~ the advancement of learning. JNU ought not to be reduced to a laughing stock.

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