Breaking a Brand: The Trials and Tribulations of JNU

Author presents a case where the institution of higher education has been subjected to discrediting and defaming amidst the agenda of promoting private higher education by the State. Thus, post-colonial education has been lately governed by state-supported privatization. Such a privatization agenda targets the credibility of public institutions and creates a narrative that such institutions are a burden on the exchequer. Author refers Thorstein Veblen’s concept of ‘idle curiosity’. Research Universities are often referred to as places where idle curiosity is the basis of advancement of knowledge which can be then put to practical use. Some of the public funded research universities in India on this account are referred to as places where such idle curiosity is said to be a waste and a burden on the exchequer. In neo-liberal times, such wastes go against the neo-liberal principles of efficiency. Arguments are made that universities which do not serve the utilitarian agenda of education are not desirable. Such a narrative has begun to discredit public universities in India. Therefore, post-colonial education needs to encounter the challenges of privatization if it has to serve the purpose of freeing the mind of the people from colonial influences by means of a critical enquiry.