Row over renaming of KU

I FULLY share the deep feeling of anguish expressed by noted historian V.N. Datta (August 11) on the announcement made by Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala at an election meeting in Ludhiana to rename Kurukshetra University as Guru Gobind Singh University on the occasion of the tercentenary of the Khalsa. Keeping in view the historical antiquity and the great cultural legacy of Kurukshetra, it would be a grave injustice to name the university established here as anything but Kurukshetra University, as correctly stressed by Professor Datta.

There are other ways of honouring the great Guru (a Chair after him has already been established at Kurukshetra University) and there is absolutely no justification in tinkering with the nomenclature of a university set up at a place where the epic battle of Mahabharata was fought and where Lord Krishna delivered the immortal sermon in the form of Gita.

The state of Haryana has yet to acquire a distinct identity of its own. The Haryana society is a highly fractured social organism. Unlike Bengalis, Tamilians, Telugus and the people in some other states with a strong regional identity, people of Haryana have no sense of belonging to the state. One comes across Jats, Brahmins, Punjabis, “locals” and so on in Haryana, but it is difficult to meet a Haryanvi. In such a situation, there is need to strengthen the identity markers in the state, and Kurukshetra is one such important historical outpost in Haryana. But the reverse is being done.

The semi-literate politicians of Haryana, with little sense of history and less of sensibility, do not hesitate to barter away the prestige and historical legacy of the state for petty political mileage. Earlier too Kurukshetra University was renamed, but the decision had to be changed under public pressure. The present Chief Minister seems to have learnt nothing from the past and has repeated the historical wrong in order to appease the Akalis. The decision is reprehensible and obnoxious and must be resisted by all right-thinking persons in the state.

D.R. CHAUDHRY
Reader, Dept of English, Dyal Singh College,
New Delhi

GURU’S COMPOSITIONS: Professor Datta has raised objections to the renaming of Kurukshetra University as Guru Gobind Singh Kurukshetra University on the ground that Kurukshetra town’s historical and cultural values would vanish.

The objections raised by him seem to be based on his personal prejudices born out of the obsession for Kurukshetra, little realising that changing the name of any university would hardly disturb its historical and cultural values. The various compositions of Guru Gobind Singh, like Krishan Avtar, Ram Avtar, Chandi-di-Var, Akal Ustat and Japji Sahib, are in praise of all the Hindu gods and goddesses despite the fact that the Guru was against idolatry.

In Krishan Avtar the Guru has described vividly how Lord Krishna killed Kansa and narrated the entire episode of Mahabharata. In Akal Ustat alone he has sung 12 hymns in praise of Goddesses Bhagwati and Kali.

There is hardly any ground for criticism, and it does not behove a historian to raise objections over renaming of any particular university. Even if Guru Gobind Singh had not visited Kurukshetra, other Gurus like Guru Nanak, Guru Amar Das, Guru Hargobind and Guru Tegh Bahadur had visited the town and offered their obeisance at this historical place.

If Kurukshetra University has been renamed in honour of the Guru it is only a token of gratitude which the Chief Minister of Haryana has paid on behalf of the people of the state.

DARSHAN SINGH
Director (Research) ICWA and
M.S. DEORA, Librarian, ICWA
New Delhi

PUBLIC INCONVENIENCE: The irresponsible decision of Mr Chautala to rename Kurukshetra University has devalued the historical significance of the institution. This also shows his unconcern for the inconvenience that such a name-changing game causes to the ordinary people.

This name-changing game started by Mr Bal Thackeray has reached from Mumbai to Kurukshetra via Chennai. I wonder why these political leaders show so much unconcern for the common man. Perhaps they seem to have forgotten that they are people’s leaders and are supposed to think about them also sometimes along with their own interests and political alliances.

SEEMA SAHORE SHARMA
Lecturer, D.A.V. College for Women
Karnal

Needless to add that in 1976 the name of Kurukshetra University was changed to B.N. Chakravarty University by the then Chief Minister of Haryana, which had caused a lot of resentment among the public. During the regime of Mr Devi Lal the name was again changed to Kurukshetra University, causing hardships to those who had been issued degrees with the name B.N. Chakravarty University. The entire stationery of the university was changed twice on this account thus wasting a lot of money unnecessarily.

RAJKUMAR JAIN
Chandigarh