Venusa Tinyi
George W. Bush is admirable for the same reason that Osama Bin Laden is: their commitment to what they believe. They seem to know who they are and what they are doing, and they have done what they did so far, I presume, with conviction and determination. They are leaders, passionate leaders with specific vision. Of course, this in no way commits me to their ideologies and particularly to the manner in which they have pursued their ideologies in the recent past. It is not my concern to judge them here however. Coming closer to our Naga context, I find Dr. T.A. Shishak and Dr. S.C. Jamir very admirable as well...Not many Naga intellectuals and leaders show what they believe and hold them to be imperative and true in their lives. Even rarer are those who, like them, are willing to pay the price for what they profess. One may not always agree with what they say but there is so much to take home whenever they speak. Democracy in our society would have lost its essential attraction and promises without the presence of such daring personalities in our midst. We need more “educated” persons like them, persons with “worldviews” to offer and to inspire and also to compare and to choose from, in our society. What about us, the commoners? Are we following the right persons and right ideologies? For those of us who got our share of education, I ask, what do we do with our education? Are we doing anything to alleviate the mounting problems that are inhibiting our society today? It is my attempt in this essay to reflect upon what most of us have conveniently forgotten or ignored – the purpose and value of education in the context of struggle for liberation.
One of the recurring themes of Indian Philosophy is, ‘Ignorance is the cause of bondage: knowledge leads to liberation.’ Indeed there is a great deal of truth in it. The colonial rulers, English people in particular, have demonstrated this truth. After having consolidated their political might, they dominated and ruled their colonies – an empire where the sun never set – by primarily enslaving the minds of their subjects. They did it by way of superimposing their might in the knowledge of science and technology, along with their propaganda of cultural superiority. The attempt to enslave the minds of the natives or subjects culturally and racially was carried out through the imposition of their language and an education policy on the colonized. Indeed, had it not been for the latter propaganda, technological and political might alone would not have been enough to colonize their subjects for such a long time. For instance, in the Indian sub-continent, some are still under the karmic impression of the colonial past. It is sad that even after about six decades of freedom from colonial yoke, they think that modern education is all about being able to speak English and mimic western culture. Today not only the English colonizers but also the entire world knows very well the magic of Michel Foucault’s dictum - “knowledge is power.” Knowledge production and knowledge engineering have become a major economic industry. There is a mad race for knowledge acquisition, accumulation and dissemination. Unfortunately knowledge is not free and most knowledge dealers are interested only in the exploitation and commercialization of information. And there is no pretension of ignorance as to why this is the case. Every institution and every nation wants power, power to control and to dominate. This madness for power is visible in any form of organized institution or government, be it local, national or international. Given this picture, it is not surprising to see why human activities have been so much affected by what is so called ‘IT Revolution.’
Since knowledge has power, it is logical that anyone who wants power must in the first place possess knowledge directly or gain control of the few section of people who deal with knowledge. As such, it is not surprising why various governments and their agencies, past or present, time and again interfere in the educational spheres. The attempts and tendencies of such governments to introduce courses which suit their ideologies are not a startling phenomenon. Even in India, considerable efforts have been made to discriminate against and suppress certain sections of the society by introducing courses that encourage hierarchical and divisional elements in the society. The attempt to saffronize Indian history or to introduce astrology by the BJP led government in the recent past is precisely a case in point. The main strategy for any self-seeking rulers in a pluralistic society, like India, has been Divide and Rule policy, the legacy of the “White Masters.” We cannot forget what happened in world history when Nazism committed itself to impart the education of racial supremacy in Germany – millions of Jewish people perished and more died in World War II as a result.
“Politicization” of knowledge is not limited to social sciences only. Even so called hard core sciences are not free from ideologies or philosophies which are fully geared to manipulate power. For instance, evolutionism is on the rise and it is hell bent on assassinating all spiritual beliefs and values, the very things which provide meaning and hope to our very existence as created beings. Evolutionism disguised as scientism has provided a foundation to conduct research programs which are likely to divide the people further into classes for discrimination and exploitation. For instance, researches in biotechnology, a young discipline undisputedly looked upon as one of the most promising and frontal areas of research, have attracted huge funding from private agencies and this has already resulted in creating several disturbing ethical issues in such areas as in-vitro fertilization or artificial reproduction, cloning and embryonic stem cell research or genomic studies, eugenics, euthanasia, abortion. Owing to the amount of resources biotechnological researches command in medical and health markets, the private manufacturing agencies, most of which are multi-national companies and important agents of globalization, are all out to rebuff any force which challenges or threatens their interests. This is alarming as it is not only making some people more powerful and rich but is also attacking our ethical and religious values in the name of science. Such science is a direct threat to certain fundamental human rights values and also our God-given image and dignity.
Under the influence of globalization, the central purpose of education is also being gradually distorted and then redefined by people with vested interests. They managed, almost convincingly and alarmingly, to sell their educational slogan to the unsuspecting public – ‘Education for job.’ What can be more deceiving and disparaging than such an (anti) educationist slogan! By emphasizing that the sole purpose of education is to earn one’s livelihood, critical thinking to evaluate the policies and plans of governments and other agencies of power are being discouraged for public debate and consumption. The main interest of many a government and institution today is to produce mechanical citizens (robot-like people) who can only say ‘Yes Boss’ without any question. In most of the educational institutions, the caliber of the students is tested and evaluated not on their creative or critical performance but on their memory power. Their whole sacred duty is to mug up what is in the “prescribed text.” No wonder our systems are still so faithful to the three-hours-system examination. It appears that we have not progressed much in our attitudes and methodologies ever since the introduction of the enslaving policy of education by the colonial rulers.
In the light of such discussion, it is befitting to remind ourselves with one of Bertrand Russell’s warnings: “For where independent thinking dies out, whether from lack of courage or absence of discipline, there the evil weeds of propaganda and authoritarianism proliferate unchecked.” Lack of political and cultural critics in our society is a direct reflection of intellectual bankruptcy. It is only when people realize the true significance and meaning of modern democratic ideals through proper education that the diverse and intricate forms of modern tyrannical and imperialistic rule can be hoped to be wiped out, and also to ensure the liberty of the people. As such the paramount duty of every educated and right thinking citizen is to interfere with the decision of any government that tries to suppress or eliminate the identity and aspiration of any group(s) through forceful implementations of its political ideologies and agendas. Democracy as a form of government can attain its much hyped ideals if and only if its ideals are allowed to be pursued in a free and rigorous manner through various educational institutions, formal or non-formal.
Having mentioned the importance of education vis-à-vis the dangers of manipulating education, let us now turn our attention to what education in a broad and holistic sense seeks to achieve. The educational goals laid down by The World Conference on Education for All’ (Jomtiem, Thailand, 1990) reads : to be able to survive, to develop their full potential, to live and work in dignity, to participate fully in development, to improve the quality of their lives, to make informed decisions and to continue living. Cognitive educationist like Jean Piaget writes, “The principal goal of education is to create men [and women] who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done - men [and women] who are creative and inventive discoverers. The second goal is to form minds which can be critical, can verify, and not accept everything they are offered.”
Surely, education is not meant to be a mere status marker in the society nor is it meant only for the well-being of the stomach. It should empower one to creatively and meaningfully interact with the world with a sense of dignity and integrity. It should edify self and society. True education thus is meant to liberate. It is meant to develop the potentialities of the individual and of groups to take decisions concerning one’s own course of life. Education is also meant to equip one to encounter any possible forces of enslavement. For all we know, one has the power to decide one’s course of action only when one has the required knowledge. In other words, genuine liberation is possible only by eliminating the ignorance of the people. It is only through careful deliberations of what is good or right in the spirit of true education that the germinating seed of change can be used to bring about steady reforms or dynamic revolutions. History informs us that no peace can prevail for long where there is dictatorial rule, where law and order are enforced upon people by trampling upon the humanitarian principles or, to use a more contemporary terminology, human rights. However, one needs to note that it is also the ignorance of the public, coupled with their indifference, which often contributes to the ushering of such repressive regime. Perhaps it is fitting to recall once again how the intellectuals played a very crucial role in the historic French Revolution of 1789. We are yet to come across one successful revolution or liberation struggle worth its name in history without the active participation of the intellectuals to instill the hope and aspiration of the mass through mass education.
What do we say of the seemingly endless list of people’s movements for identity and liberation in the so-called North-East India? Apart from the indifference and apathy of successive Delhi governments towards the region, perhaps, the somewhat sluggish and complex struggles in the entire North-East may be due to the failure of the various groups to firmly hold on to any specific ideology based on modern democratic rational principles. The peoples seem to be struggling without much sense of direction. The leaders have miserably failed to propagate any manifestoes or ideologies which are necessary not only to educate and enlighten but also to muster the allegiance and support of the common mass. Negative nationalism based on the disliking of ‘others’ for whatever reasons is not only immoral but also irrational to pursue as a nationalistic goal. No such struggle or movement will ever liberate a society or a person. It may frighten some to know that political liberation without educational liberation of the people will only serve to deliver a struggling society from one tyranny to yet another tyrannical rule. I was awakened from my intellectual slumber when in one of the national seminars where I presented a paper, I was asked by a well known human rights scholar and member of National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Haragopal, this question: “You Nagas have no ideology, do you?”
Kuknalim.com Columnist
