Editorial: Volition to violate

It’s normal to name institutions after a personality if he/she funded the said institution. Some of the ivyiest universities in the US bear the names of individuals who left endowments to them. Some of them were disreputable too, and have been in the recent past smoked out for involvement in the slave trade. Their names are an embarrassment in today’s woke times. But the satisfaction remains that they gave some money to run the place. If nothing else, it paid the salaries of staff or gave scholarships to a few poor students. But what justification is there to name things after people who did nothing nor paid a farthing for it?

In India, government programmes are christened after politicians and it has been taken to the extreme. Welfare schemes, institutions, streets, irrigation projects, airports, bridges, and even districts are named after political leaders who may or may not have had anything to do with them. In Andhra Pradesh, most districts, irrigation projects, and all welfare schemes are named after historic personalities, erasing the culturally evolved name for them. This is a nightmare for students taking competitive exams as whoever frames questions thinks memorising the names of such projects is a sign of ‘general knowledge’.

Naming welfare schemes after politicians also implies that it is their largesse being given to the people. This is a preposterous idea given that it is always the taxpayer’s money, and politicians as a class have been more famous for helping themselves to such monies than for contributing to the kitty.

So, it’s rather a good idea that the Narendra Modi government has desisted from naming schemes after its own beloved personalities — if you excuse the odd Deendayal Upadhyay scheme or two. Giving every scheme the name ‘Pradhan Mantri’ may sound a bit pedestrian but it at least makes things easier for students taking competitive exams, even if the Sanskrit following the name skews the odds in favour of ABVP members.

Having said that, an institution of learning is a different matter. Naming an institution of knowledge or learning after a personality implies that it captures the values he or she personified. It inspires the scholars working within its portals and holds out those values to society at large. Thus, do we have the universal practice of naming universities and think tanks after personalities. The Max Planck Institute offers to the world values personified by the great scientist. The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre does the same for our scientists.

So does the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML). The library was established in 1964 to commemorate the life and work of Jawaharlal Nehru, the man who defined India as a state drawing strength from ancient roots and inspiration from modern ideas. The museum houses a vast collection of his personal papers, books and photographs. Its library has one of the most comprehensive collections of materiel on Indian history and politics. The NMML is an important resource for scholars and students, and an inspiration to the general public.

The Modi government’s decision to erase Nehru’s name from the institution is a shameful act of historical revisionism. Today’s India is an embodiment of Jawaharlal Nehru’s vision. Our entire educational and scientific infrastructure is owed to his vision. If diverse parts of India coexist in a composite nation state, it is entirely due to the life and work of the troika of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and BR Ambedkar. Erasing or altering their contributions to institutions that stand on their values is a deeply violative act.