There's a need to defend universities as free spaces: Vice-President Hamid Ansari

Vice President Hamid Ansari on Saturday said there’s a need to defend universities as free spaces even as he rooted for freedom in educational institutions. Delivering the 66th convocation address at the Panjab University, Ansari said, “The freedom of our varsities has been challenged by narrow considerations of what is perceived to be public good. There is a need to defend universities as free spaces, as sources of renewal of liberal values.”

In the light of recent events in the country, especially the recent clash at Delhi University’s north campus between RSS-backed ABVP, Left-affiliated AISA and students, Ansari said they have shown “there is much confusion about what a university should or should not be”. He defended the rights to dissent and agitation citing inherent fundamental rights under the Constitution. “Except in cases of illegal conduct or violence, a University should never seek to silence or influence faculty members or students to adopt or renounce any particular position,” he said.

Ansari also emphasised that universities should take recourse to legal action to defend their academic integrity and freedom. Clarifying his statement, the vice-president said that



intellectual dissent has the power to clarify differences and elucidate competing assumptions. “It enables each of us to recognise the strengths and weaknesses in our thinking,” he added. Most importantly, he urged universities to speak out without fear of intimidation, even if it means inviting protests. “Not doing so would be to deviate from the path of rational enquiry and undermine our curiosity about the world by embracing ill-defined orthodoxies, which would impoverish our pursuit of knowledge,” he said.

Ansari’s tenure as Vice President ends later this year. Earlier in February, the vice-president had said his journey has been ‘very productive’, adding that he fully enjoyed this phase of his career. In a statement , he said, “Every day is a new day, you live with the kind of responsibilities and challenges of the day.” Ansari, 79, who is also the Chairman of Rajya Sabha by virtue of his post, first took office of the Vice President back in 2007. He has held various roles such as former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia as well as the Vice Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University and Chairman of the National Minorities Commission.