Galpo Bhugol Niye

By Malay Mukhopadhyay

Ananda Publishers Private Ltd., 1997.                      

Rs. 40.00

‘Galpo Bhugol Niye’ (Stories about Geography) is a collection of Bengali short stories written by Malay Mukhopadhyay. The book contains six stories in total. The author is Professor at the department of Geography, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan and this unique book is an honest effort to raise interest among the general readers, the school students in particular, about the subject the teacher teaches passionately.

KATHA CHHABI

                            
Malay Mukhopadhyay and Arnab Ghoshal

                         
Distributor : Subarnarekha, Kolkata                                  

Rs. 200.00

‘Katha Chhabi’ (Words and Pictures) is a collection of Bengali poems, written by Malay Mukhopadhyay. There are 15 poems in altogether and they are accompanied by some beautiful photographs taken by Arnab Ghoshal. The poet is a well known geographer who has travelled different parts of the world and has closely studied human behaviour, environment and the interrelationship between the two. His literary works clearly reflect the experience the gathered as a serious observer of the social affairs.

EXPLORING STUDENT POLITICS

Anirban Banerjee

 

PUBLISHED BY

Manasi Banerjee

BURDWAN,WEST BENGAL, INDIA

1998

PRICE; Rs.250

ABOUT THE BOOK

Exploring Student Politics consists of four critical essays on student politics. These were

originally published in various academic journals. They were later revised and published

in book form. In the first article,” Students & Politics: A Comparative perspective”, the

author, after a comparative study of student movements in various countries, has tried to

point out 1) the major characteristics of student movements and 2) the factors leading to

student power movements.1) The major features of student movements are idealism,

elitism, internationalism and political mindedness.2) Seven key factors lead to student

movements. These are national liberation movements, government policy, the education

system, generation gap, social background, unemployment, and alienation.

The second essay, “The Psychology of Student Protest: A Motivational Analysis” is a

study of the key factors in student activism, which were distilled after a comparative

analysis of student movements in various nations. The main motivating factors, which the

author identified, were the desire for power, anti-establishment feelings and radical

attitudes.

The third paper, “The Class character of the Student Movement: A Critique of Two

Theories” is a study of two major theories of student movements. The New Left theory

contends that college and university students are a part of the working class and ripe for

leading the revolution against capitalism. The theoreticians positing the generation gap

theory argue that students conceptualize class consciousness in terms of the generation

gap. Rejecting both these approaches, I have argued that students cannot be regarded as

a class, either in the Marxian or the Weberian sense. For both Marx and Weber, the term

“class” has an economic connotation. For Marx, class is based on relation of a person to

the means of production, i.e., whether he owns the means of production or not. For

Weber, class position means market position. Students are not a class, though they belong

to the middle class. Their consciousness is not based on class position. Rather it is based

on knowledge.

The fourth and final article, entitled, “Student Politics in India: a Historical

Profile” is a case study of the student movement in India employing the historical

method. In this essay, I have attempted a chronological exposition of the main currents in

Indian student movement from the days of the Young Bengal movement in the mid-19

th century till mid-August, 1998-when the manuscript was sent to the press. I have divided

the history of the student movement into three phases. In the proto-historical phase,

which coincided with the introduction of western education in India by the British

colonial regime, the student movement was in an incipient stage. This formative period of

the student movement lasted till 1905. It is in the stage of the freedom struggle (1905-

1947) that the student movement was institutionalized. It played an important role in

India’s freedom struggle. Many student martyrs, like Khudiram Bose, who are household

names now, came from lower middle class families; their dominant ideology was

patriotism. From 1947 onwards, the student movement entered a new phase which is

continuing till this day. In independent India, there has been a phenomenal growth of the

education system. Thanks to the policy of subsidized education, wards of small peasants,

workers, etc. can also reap the benefits of education. The student movement has focussed

on many issues ranging from opposing imperialism and combating authoritarian and

corrupt rulers to issues that directly concern the student community, i.e, examinations and

unemployment. The students took part in many progressive movements like the

Naxalbari movement and the movement against Ms. Indira Gandhi’s authoritarian

policies in the seventies. But, from the eighties, reactionary movements like the Assam

movement, the anti-Mandal Commission movement, etc. took place. To conclude, while

the student movement has had an overall progressive essence, casteism, communal and

secessionist tendencies, which may be described as “a counter current in the youth

movement”, are also present.

This book has been graced with a ‘Foreword ‘by noted educationist and

researcher on student activism, Prof. Anil Baran Ray.

HONOUR KILLING AND CIVIL SOCIETY

Real life love stories are always interesting and they draw special attention when such affairs run through rough weather or end in tragedy. Although love-marriage-related conflicts, crimes and violent actions are not uncommon, yet the honour killing incidents in the recent past have once again bring the attitude of the Indian society towards inter-community love marriage under scanner. Moreover, they also raise serious questions regarding the activities of civil society in India.

            The cases of honour killing make one thing very clear – even in the new millennium; the Indian society does not feel much confortable with love affairs. Blaming patriarchal social structure of the traditional culture, for that matter, would be a very simplistic explanation. Lord Krishna and his lover Radha are worshipped all over India and this extra-marital love affair remains a source of inspiration to the artists and to the poets for centuries. The patriarchal Hindu society, with all its conservative attitude, did not find any difficulty to celebrate the divine love story in public. But what is praised and discussed in public might not be allowed to take place within the domestic space. Therefore, although love stories were popularized in songs, dramas and in other forms of performing arts, the lovers never had a smooth ride. The parents in India have always preferred arranged marriages and the situation has not changed much even today.

            A close look to the society points out that there are reservations about love affairs mainly for two reasons. Firstly, the guardians feel that being engaged in love is nothing but wastage of time and it distracts the attention of the young boys and girls from their studies. Some liberals feel that love is permissible only after reaching maturity, particularly after completing education and after achieving stability and self-sufficiency financially. The second factor of opposition is more important. In Indian society, even today, the love affairs are viewed in connection with marriage. There is a  general opinion that the lovers should have commitment to the relationship and such a relationship should be taken to the socially acceptable conclusion, that is, ‘marriage’. As a result, all the issues related to marriage appear in the scene, while dealing with love related matters.

            In India, marriage is a very problematic issue. The choice of mates, rituals to be performed, wedding ceremonies, all these are seriously taken. Conservative parents, for keeping control over the family affairs, prefer to select mates for their children themselves. In the Indian tradition, even today, marriage is regarded as a parental responsibility, particularly the marriage of the daughters. Inability to arrange marriage for the girls is regarded as a matter of shame for the family whereas ensuring a happy marriage for the children in a socially and financially secure family, is a matter of pride for the guardians.

            Therefore, in order that marriages may be happy, adjustments after marriage become a major concern. So, the elders of the family try to find optimum similarities between the two sides and the main factors that receive attention during match-making are social status, economic background, ethnicity and caste.

            In rarest of rare cases, a mate is selected from a different religious group. In the everyday social life of average Indians, religion, ethnicity and even caste play an important role. Religious traditions and cultures, not only influences one’s activities and ideologies, they tend to give a distinct identity to its followers. In such a social context, it is believed that adjustment by a couple becomes a tough task when the partners belong to different religion, culture, financial strata, caste or race. Further, in this age of consumerism, adjustments are assumed to be much harder when the bride comes of a much richer family but the groom is financially rather poor and weak.

            In India, marriage is seen not just as an event that gives social sanction to a couple to have sexual relationship and give birth to children but it is viewed in other ways as well. Marriage is a means to raise social status, an instrument to establish contacts with people enjoying power and prestige. Marriage not only determines the position of any individual but also effects the larger family he or she belongs to. Since reputation is very significant and sensitive in a highly stratified society, therefore, very often we find that communities get involved in disputes linked to marriage and tensions arise. Sometimes, such disputes result in violent acts causing law and order problem. In fact, as evident from the media reports from time to time; conflicts, brutality and even murders resulting from inter-caste and inter-religion or inter-ethnic marriages are not rare in the subcontinent.

            However, caste wars are not the only crime associated with marriage. Violation of The Child Marriage Restraint Act is rampant. Similarly common is fake marriage. Murder and torture for dowry are among the major crimes committed against women in India. What is more, marriage is one of the important reasons and widely used method behind trafficking of young women.

            Therefore, although marriage is a personal matter, yet in the Indian context, marriage-related crimes create enough scope for external intervention. Whenever the situation gets complicated, there is an opportunity for some corrupt people, holding the position of power, to fish in troubled waters. Such an opportunistic tribe includes not only the police but then political bosses as well.

            No sensible person can say that intercommunity love marriages are not desirable. A civilized society can hardly prevent such marriages from taking place in spite of all possible efforts. Ideally, there should not be any interference when mates are adults and legally married. However, complex situation often arises out of such marriages. It is a fact, though undesirable, that even in this age of cultural globalization, intercommunity marriages without family consent are discouraged, resisted and often end in tension and conflict. Such situation is not welcome and it deserves serious attention.

            To ensure safe and peaceful time for the lovers after marriage, the best option would be to remove tensions among the communities and establish a culture of responsibility. Here the civil society has one important role to play. But this is not an easy task to accomplish and there is no shortcut to success. Only blaming the conservative parents and asking them to become open minded and to respect individual choice are not going to help much. Experience shows that love marriages in large number end in cheating, in trafficking of young girls etc. There is a general belief that love marriages often lead to divorce due to failure in adjustment and lack of commitment to the relationship. In the Indian family value system, divorce is not easily acceptable and remarriage is difficult. After years to investing in children’s upbringing and spending huge amount for their marriage, no Indian parents would like to witness separation after a few months. Asking parents to be tolerant and allowing youths to go after their own choice – even to the extent of becoming irresponsible in the name of individual freedom – may not be the proper approach to establish a healthy social atmosphere.

            It is a simple fact that unless the bitterness among different sections is not mitigated, conflicts may ensue from time to time fro intercommunity love marriages. Such unfortunate happenings are not unnatural or infrequent in a society which has poor record of checking communal riots as also of organizing speedy trial and delivering justice to the victims. Therefore, due to the failure of the political system, the task for the civil socity is to create a conducive environment for tension free interaction among all the communities. Mere use of attractive words – just to blame some fundamentalists and thereby claiming a secular label forgetting other real issues – will not serve any real purpose. Time has come to remember that playing to the gallery by the intelligentia can hardly achieve any positive result. Abusing police after an unfortunate incident and criticizing political parties selectively will fall far short of what is needed. There is no denying the fact that, there are reasons for communal tensions to exist in India. Fundamentalism and narrow sectarian mentality apart, special schemes aimed at appeasing specific communities for vote bank politics affect social harmony beyond repair. But unfortunately, such harmful acts have rarely faced any strong, continuous large scale movement lead by the civil society. Similarly, very little has been done by the civil society to pressurize the political system to go for reforming the police and judiciary. The intention on the part of the opportunistic intellectuals to remain politically correct in every occasion only allows communalism to spread its wings. Unless the civil society realizes its roles and duties, a culture of discipline and responsibility can never be established in the Indian social context. Otherwise, many lovers, sharing a common dream from different community backgrounds, will suffer.

Ananda Mohan Kar (Asst. Professor, Department of Sociology, The University of Burdwan, India).

 

COMPETITIVE EXAMINATIONS : Negative Consequences for Indian Higher Education

Every year, thousands of aspiring candidates try their luck in different competitive examinations across India. Since success in these tests can ensure secured government jobs or places in prestigious educational institutions, they have tremendous importance in public life in this poor Third World country.

It is easier to understand the public views rather than to realize the social consequences. There are several problems associated with the competitive-examination-culture and some of them are closely linked to our higher education system.

Wastage of Talent

In most of the competitive exams (that are held for Government jobs), the eligibility criterion is graduation from any recognized university. Since job opportunities are limited and in most cases a Post-Graduation degree fails to guarantee any success in the highly competitive job market, a growing number of college or university students prefer to concentrate more on competitive examinations than on higher study. From the point of view of the students, this act is absolutely logical. But the problem lies in the fact that the shift of focus affects their higher study, particularly that of the ordinary students, who struggle for making proper adjustments between two types of examination system.

On the other hand, sometimes, a brilliant university student takes up the job of a school teacher, leaving his or her Post Graduation study in the middle. For these people, returning to higher study, while remaining in service, is a quite tough task. They have neither sufficient time nor the opportunities to attend any institution. Unfortunately, still, there are apprehensions about the quality and the market value of the degrees offered by correspondence courses. In case of science students, the correspondence can offer no solution to this problem.

The departure of the better students from the institution and the neglect of Post Graduate study by many for the preparation of such competitive examinations are definitely frustrating for the sincere university teachers. Study of subjects at the top-most level demands excellence and therefore, brilliant persons are required in the positions of teachers, students and researchers. Wastage of talents and lack of seriousness in higher study is often reflected in the poor show by the examiners in the NET and SET examinations – the tests that are held to screen the eligible ones for teaching at the colleges and universities.

But there are many other problems and their origin lies in the methods and syllabus of the competitive examinations. What is the rational to test the knowledge of the candidates in two optional subjects, at the time of recruiting our civil servants? Several candidates try to pick up the so called ‘scoring’ subjects and by doing so, they often end up with selecting subjects they have never studied before. There are many subjects that one candidate is compelled to study only for the competitive examinations and knowledge in such subjects hardly matters when one seeks job in private sector, which is the last hope for the unsuccessful candidates.

In case of the examination arranged by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC), one finds a different problem. In most of the subjects, two separate tests are held – one for the pass graduate level and the other for the Honours Graduate and Post Graduate level. A candidate is permitted to appear in one of them only. When there is no dearth of unemployed candidates having Post Graduate qualification, one can hardly find any reason to make provisions to recruit large number of teachers to teach subjects in which they have only Pass Graduate level expertise. Perhaps, the pass graduate level teachers receive lesser salaries and so, by recruiting teachers in this category, the Government can save some money for other development purpose. But this strategy minimizes the value of higher education and denying school children the best available teachers is not the right step to develop human resource for future.

The issue can be viewed from another angle. A candidate of SSC examination might find that there are very few posts, or not a single one, in a particular subject in which he or she holds a Post Graduation degree. To increase his probability of success, he might be tempted to appear for the Pass Graduation level test, in a subject that he had studied while doing graduation course some time back. Therefore, the candidate would be in a situation to prepare for a subject with which he is not in best of touch and studying a subject at the pass graduation level test would not increase his knowledge by any considerable amount.

Market

Moreover, whenever unfamiliar subjects are to be prepared in quick time, it becomes while remaining engaged in other activities, it becomes a challenging task. The poor public libraries extend little help in collecting necessary reading materials. However, in the market economy, for any large scale demand, there appears the supplying agencies. So, here we find books, magazines, correspondence courses and tutorial homes to meet the requirements of the aspiring candidates. Anyone having purchasing power is able to afford these materials and services.

At present, it is really tough to achieve success in competitive examinations without consulting specially designed materials. Therefore, it is gradually becoming difficult for brilliant but financially poor students. Poor people somehow manage to finish formal mainstream education. But spending more for uncertain outcome is beyond their reach. This is natural in class divided society. But the concern is that if merit takes the back seat, the frustrated underprivileged sections slowly lose confidence in the system. This is not a good sign for the social order. Significantly, our competitive-examination-culture supports a coaching industry, which makes huge profit without contributing anything to the education system. More unfamiliar areas are included in the syllabus, grater is the dependence on the coaching industry and higher is the course fee. It is shocking to find that some publishing houses, even some ‘reputed’ tutorial homes sell poor quality reading materials in high price.

Competitive examinations in India are really tough and probably, the highly skilled ones win. But the society needs to think about the unsuccessful candidates as well. The failed persons are far higher in number than handful of successful candidates.

The important point is that for different competitive examinations, thousands of examinees do lots of hard work for a limited number of seats, but, it is a pity that some of the subjects they prepare or the sub-standard material they study, do not help the unsuccessful candidates in future. If failed in exam, entire effort is wasted. Therefore, for a failed candidate, ultimately it turns out to be nothing but loss of time, money and energy. Our youths should not remain engaged in studying something that does not help anyone in the society, except the coaching centres and some publishing houses.

Reforms Required

It is true that competitive examinations are essential. But it is equally important that questions should be asked only from the areas that have relevance with the job one candidate is aspiring for. While recruiting teachers, emphasis should be on the subject and on language skill. The candidates who have already qualified NET and SET examinations, may directly be recruited for school teaching after the personality test. Why should candidates, who have already proved their ability to teach at the University level, will have to seat in written test to prove that they have sufficient knowledge to teach school children studying at class five? Higher education should be given its due respect in society.

On the other hand, for selecting civil servants, there is no point to ask questions from optional subjects. There should be efforts to modify the syllabus. Lastly, if possible, a common syllabus should be formed by the different service commissions and it would be better if such bodies can organize common test for various services. Every year, dates of two or more competitive examinations clash with one another. To avoid such situation, it is necessary to reduce the number of such tests.

There is little point to conduct tough examinations without considering their huge negative impact on society, particularly on the higher education system.

About the Author: Ananda Mohan Kar,

Asst. Professor, Department of Sociology, The University of Burdwan, India.