4 months ago
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Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan connected Monday (January 12, 2026) said captious reasoning has been the psyche of Jawaharlal Nehru University, and “intellectual centre”, wherever “argumentation, discussion, taste expression, and intelligence exchange” were seen arsenic portion of the varsity’s “living culture”, which had inspired students to deliberation and inquire questions “beyond classrooms and libraries”.
“Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that debate, discussion, and dissent are indispensable to democracy,” Mr. Pradhan said.
Speaking astatine the ninth Convocation ceremonial astatine the University, the Education Minister said that JNU’s “academic situation and leadership” person ever been a “strong centre for development, adjacent if their opinions and methods were antithetic from each other”.
Mr. Pradhan past cited erstwhile students specified arsenic Dr. DP Tripathy, CPI(M) leaders Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat, and John Brittas, and his colleagues successful the Cabinet, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and asked students to enactment however they had made a people of their ain successful societal life.
This comes a week aft the JNU medication reported its students, immoderate of them members of the Students’ Union, to the Delhi Police for raising “objectionable slogans” against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, during a protestation conscionable to people an onslaught connected its field 5 years agone that coincided with quality that a erstwhile pupil Umar Khalid, had been denied bail successful the Delhi riots conspiracy case.
At the convocation, the Education Minister said, “Through years of accordant world contributions, JNU has established a beardown and distinctive contented of world excellence. It has been 1 of the starring universities successful the state that has embraced genuine world autonomy successful an interdisciplinary environment.”
In his address, Mr. Pradhan emphasised Parliament’s resoluteness and imaginativeness successful giving commencement to an institute similar JNU that was focussed connected principles of world excellence.
He added that it was besides recovered that galore of the things formalised by the National Education Policy of 2020 were already successful signifier astatine JNU.
“Critical reasoning is the psyche of JNU. This University does not thatch students rote learning oregon conscionable learning accusation by heart. It alternatively inspires them to deliberation and inquire questions,” Mr. Pradhan said, adding that his anticipation from the graduating students was that they volition “carry guardant the contented of JNU’s inclusivity, societal justice, and responsibility; go the dependable of the deprived, and formulate strategies to trim inequalities”.
“Some of you scope Parliament and State Assemblies to fortify democracy, immoderate fulfill the work of nationalist work successful the Kartavya Bhawan, immoderate fortify India’s planetary relation arsenic strategical experts and Ambassadors,” helium said, adding that portion others could laic the instauration stones for start-ups and unicorns, yet, others could go writers, journalists and thought leaders, who could “guide the nation’s ideological discourse”.
“The state expects from you an active, positive, and meaningful publication successful realising the resoluteness of our respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a Viksit Bharat by 2047,” the Education Minister said.
