Ahmedabad (The Hawk): Gujarat has devolved into a political slugfest, with Governor Acharya Devvrat taking over as the 12th Chancellor of the Gujarat Vidyapith, a deemed university founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920.
On the day before Devvrat took his oath as Chancellor on October 18, nine trustees resigned in protest, believing that only a bonafide Gandhian merited the position.
'Had Gandhiji been living today, he would have blessed me because I follow Gandhian tenets, love Khadi, respect cows, and emphasise organic farming.' 'I too follow Gandhi's teachings such as ahimsa, truth, and brahmacharya,' Devvrat remarked upon taking over.
In a furious reaction, Gandhian Mahesh Pandya said that simply following Bapu's ideas or wearing Khadi or practising organic farming does not qualify one as a Gandhian. He claimed that this is an attempt to erase Mahatma Gandhi's ideology and that it is an attempt to remove the last Gandhian institute.
'The registrar, vice-chancellor, trustees themselves invited Sangh Parivar to saffronise the institute,' Gandhian Hemant Shah remarked, condemning the effort to invite the Governor to take over as Chancellor.
The trustees noted in their open resignation letter that Gandhiji built a self-sufficient institute that was initially dependent on state funds, but as bureaucracy meddling mounted, the institute gradually lost its autonomy.
Though no one is openly discussing it, there is a tangible dread that the Vidyapith would be uprooted from its current location (Ashram road in Ahmedabad) and relocated to a remote rural area, where it will be renamed 'Nai Taleem Siksha.'
Concerned about a similar fate for the vidyapith, a Gandhian who requested anonymity expressed concern about the Gandhi Ashram, where a renovation in the form of a residential area is underway with investment in the hundreds of crores of rupees.
'The same thing can happen to Vidyapith, and it will lose its simplicity character,' he says.
In the spirit of self-sufficiency, government funds to the institute would be discontinued, and students will be paid exorbitant fees, he stated.
Students from low-income or rural backgrounds will be denied admission to the Gujarat Vidyapith, leaving Gandhi's aim of comprehensive education unfulfilled, he warned.
(Inputs from Agencies)
