What we stand for must always be for what in our hearts

- Prof. Margaret Ch Zama,

Mizoram University

Dear friends, today we – the Mizoram University fraternity have come here together to condemn in no uncertain terms the blatant and shameful violence that was unleashed on students and teaching faculty on 5th January 2020, (10 days ago) at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in which over 40 people were believed to have been injured, a number of whom required medical assistance.

Amidst the many charges and counter charges that continue to dominate the national media about this unhappy event, we stand firm in expressing our solidarity and full support for the JNU fraternity on their fight to maintain the right to freedom of expression and dissent, for the preservation of the hallowed values and foundation upon which their premier institution had been established in the first place, and that which they believe is under dire threat today.

No institute of learning can thrive and develop in the absence of a conducive environment for the growth and expression of ideas for itself, and for the good of humanity at large, under the shadow of fear and threats that generate all round insecurity and distrust amongst its students and faculty.

God forbid that Mizoram University -  this beloved institution of ours – ever become a victim to fear and threats and politicized divisiveness wherein the MZU fraternity of teachers, students and administration have to live and operate in insecurity, under the boots of what George Orwell had named ‘Big Brother’. I refer to George Orwell’s seminal novel titled 1984 published in 1948 in the aftermath of World War II, wherein his imaginary nation in the book was constantly under the scanner of the ‘Thought Police’ and, wherein committing a ‘thought crime’ was tantamount to imprisonment, torture and death. When we observe the unhappy trend taking place across this beloved nation of ours, India, of the use of violent force to suppress dissent and counter voices particularly in higher seats of learning, it becomes all the more pertinent for us, you and me, to truly believe that the onus is on us, privileged and equipped with higher education, to stand up for what we believe in.

I believe that we have come here today knowing full well that in our lives, one need not take sides on every issue, bit that what we stand for must always be for what in our hearts, we believe in.

I conclude my brief speech by reciting a famous poem, a prayer poem, published in 1910 in support of the cause for the national struggle for India’s Independence – “Where the mind is without fear” written by India’s famous son Rabindranath Tagore, who was our first Indian Nobel Laureate in 1913. This poem is from his collection of poems Gitanjali. I think you are aware that this poem recently made headlines a few days back when Martin Sheen quoted this poem in a gathering of protest against climate change at Washington DC on January 10th, last Friday.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out form the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by Thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Speech of Prof. Margaret Ch Zama, Mizoram University on January 15, 2019 @ MZU