Congress MP Ms Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s unqualified comments on IIT Madras Director Prof. V Kamakoti as a ‘gaumutra expert (cow urine expert)’ reveal not only the nature of the Congress Party and its ideology but also define the nature of Hindutva politics under the leadership of the BJP. Ms Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has every right to question, comment on and legitimately oppose useless spending and the allocation of funds for ‘cowpathy’ under the Scientific Utilization through Research Augmentation–Prime Products from Indigenous Cows (SUTRA-PIC) programme. There is nothing new in the findings of Indian researchers compared to the work of Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) on cow dung and urine; therefore, this programme has nothing new to offer.
However, a researcher should have the freedom to conduct research any topic under the sun and moon that excites the researcher, and it is the responsibility of both researchers and visionary political leadership to provide generic direction to research based on social needs, or to deal with contemporary challenges confronting the world. This is necessary to optimise the impact of research by creating a research culture and conditions conducive to the production of new knowledge – whether to challenge prevailing orthodoxies or expand existing knowledge with new empirical or theoretical direction. Ms Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s comment on Prof. V Kamakoti has none of these objectives. She and her party have failed to hold the Hindutva government to account. Her comments reveal the illiberal political tradition of the Congress Party when it comes to research autonomy. The response of the BJP and its leadership to Ms Vadra’s comment also reveals Hindutva’s ideological inferiority complex. If I work on ‘shit’ and someone calls me a ‘shit expert’, I should neither feel bad nor feel disoriented as if someone has abused me.
Political interference in research destroys the very conditions necessary for the creation, dissemination and growth of knowledge and a scientific and secular culture in society. Research is not about having a degree, but about the skills to produce new knowledge that challenges existing knowledge, expands it, or gives it a new direction. The diversity of knowledge traditions is important to create scientific traditions and cultures in the country, so that we can grow on a path of peace and prosperity.
Both the Congress Party and the BJP are responsible for destroying the constitutional foundations of higher education and research in the country through unnecessary political interference, without a vision to drive research in any progressive direction that would benefit Indian society as a whole. From funding bias to institutional bureaucratic controls, these are the mechanisms by which the visionless political leadership of both parties have destroyed the autonomous conditions necessary for the growth of secular and scientific education in India.
Prof. V Kamakoti is a well-qualified, well-published and well-experienced researcher whose political and ideological orientation and obligation remain aligned with Hindutva politics. There is absolutely no reason why Prof. V Kamakoti cannot be criticised for his political and ideological orientations as a citizen and as the leader of a leading institution of higher education like IIT Madras. Ms Priyanka Gandhi Vadra can criticise his ideological bias or orientation, but she has no business criticising or undermining Prof. V Kamakoti’s research on anything. It is Prof. V Kamakoti who is free to choose a research topic, to like it or reject it. His research autonomy is central to his work. Ms Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has absolutely no business interfering in his research and undermining that autonomy. It is a disgrace to attack a professor while his political masters continue to roam free, undermining scientific research across the country. The Congress Party has failed as an opposition party to hold the Hindutva government to account.
On the other side, there is absolutely no expectation from the Hindutva government, which makes every attempt to undermine, diminish and destroy higher education in the country and its secular, scientific and constitutional foundations. Hindutva as an ideology is fundamentally opposed to all forms of science and its secular knowledge traditions. It is a reactionary force in society and works as a political project of global and national capitalist classes which seek rent and profit in everything. This rent- and profit-seeking attitude of Hindutva politics has led to the rise of many private and foreign universities where degrees and qualifications are for sale. It does not promote public education as a constitutional duty, but instead accelerates the privatisation of education for profit. This is where the Congress and the BJP find common ground. The privatisation of education started by the Congress Party is now being accelerated by the BJP. These political and economic twins must be defeated to uphold research autonomy and public education and research in India.
Ms Priyanka Gandhi Vadra can attack the political ideology of Prof. V Kamakoti till the holy cows come home, but she has absolutely no right to attack his research and his research topic. As a qualified Buddhist, Ms Vadra would not lose much if she publicly apologised to Prof. V Kamakoti as part of her Buddhist orientation. This much-needed apology could create space to dismantle Hindutva ideology and its poison that ruins the research credentials of professors, researchers and people like Prof. V Kamakoti.
The emancipatory logic of knowledge depends on the level of freedom we give to our researchers. Free researchers can only produce emancipatory knowledge. This is the foundation of Indian knowledge tradition, which defines knowledge as “Sā vidyā yā vimuktaye” (that is knowledge which liberates). It looks like both the Congress Party and the BJP are fighting with each other to destroy the conditions necessary for the growth of scientific and secular knowledge in India – knowledge that will emancipate people from their conditions of poverty, unemployment, homelessness, ill health, illiteracy and blind beliefs. These twin political forces do not want knowledge traditions that question power in order to emancipate people. This is the context in which people must fight to reclaim their right to secular and scientific knowledge that creates progressive consciousness and promotes emancipation in everyday life. Research autonomy, and the autonomy and dignity of researchers, are fundamental to achieving these objectives as a nation and society with diverse knowledge traditions that can shape the future of India and Indians.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect (North London News) editorial policy.
