Our Colleges and Universities Are Indispensable to Our Liberal Democracy:Justice BV Nagarathna

Supreme Court Judge, Justice B.V. Nagarathna delivered the presidential address at the 12th Convocation and Founder’s Day of O.P. Jindal Global University. It was titled: ‘Nurturing our constitutional culture, a high-calling for universities.’

At the outset, she congratulated the graduates for going through the academic rigor.

Our Colleges and Universities Are Indispensable to Our Liberal Democracy

She commenced her address by stating: “Our core democratic institutions are vital intermediaries between citizens and governments; we have the political institutions in the legislatures, we have the apolitical institutions in the form of courts, we have the independent media, voluntary organizations, and community organizations but the past several years have occasioned introspection or soul-searching within many of these institutions. One critical institution that has been absent from these conversations are namely our college and universities which are indispensable to our liberal democracy guided by the rule of law.”

In this background, she emphasized that universities must embrace their role “as one of the stewards of our constitution culture”.

Culture Grows in The Society Through Ages, and in Turn, It Sustains Society

Concerning the word ‘culture,’ Justice B.V. Nagarathna meant constitutional culture of a nation “which cannot be laid down over night”. Constitutional culture includes the attitudes, aspirations and sentiments of the citizenry.

Moving forward with her speech, she quoted some of the renowned personalities.

A constitution is not a parchment of paper; it is a way of life and has to be lived up to.”- Justice HR Khanna wrote in his book on Making of India's Constitution.

“No matter how good a constitution is, it can only be effective when there is a presence of sagacity of individuals and the masses.”- Dr. BR Ambedkar.

“Constitutional culture has to be cultivated anew every generation, and education is the midwife”- John Dewey, an American philosopher and educational reformer.

Role of The Curriculum and Faculty in Tapping the Boundless Reservoir of Intellectual and Moral Energy Available

Justice B.V. Nagarathna stated that this (aforementioned) challenge is compelling regarding how we educate and inspire our students to be good citizens.

In this context, she quoted Albert Einstein “Education has two central functions related to the individual and the society. One, to educate the individual as a free individual and two, to educate the individual as a part of society”.

She elucidated: “The multi-faceted ideals of our constitution are supported by the four pillars namely, knowledge, skills, values, and aspirations. These pillars are, in turned, founded on ideal citizenship. Civic knowledge refers to a familiarity with the history and theory of our constitution; such knowledge ensures that one brings to public life a nuanced understanding of the past and the present. Civic values include a commitment to the ideals of tolerance, equality, fraternity, dignity and integrity that provides the standards against which citizens hold policy and policymakers into account.”

She highlighted the importance of curriculum in providing civic education with the help of which “citizens will not only be able to preserve but also to renew and invigorate our constitutional culture and democracy."

Role of Teachers in Nurturing Youth Transformed into Ideal Citizens

At this, Justice B.V. Nagarathna quoted a great administrator and education V. S. Srinivasa Sastri: “There are three basic postulates of ideal citizenship

1. Sense of public spirit;

2. Practical common sense, a shrewd eye on the affairs of the world;

3. the ability to understand and appreciate what lies at the bottom of the welfare of society."

She explained her view on the values of ideal citizenship and broadly classified it into internal values (honesty, integrity, humility, ability to shun greed, pride, and envy) and external values (good citizenship as envisaged in Part IV-A of the Indian Constitution). She then averred that a teacher's role is to inculcate these values.

The Role of Liberal Education in Securing the Core Values Enshrined in Our Constitution

After referring to the values (justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity) embedded in the preamble, Justice B.V. Nagarathna pressed on the need to cultivate the value of equality and fraternity in the students.

In this context, she spoke: “When institutions of education provocate the idea that one person is intellectually more superior than the other and portray education merely as a competition…. there lies the risk of injuring the fraternity.”

She also categorically stated how deeply disturbed and alarmed she is at the trend where students prepare for competitive exams instead of attending classes during their crucial years of class 11^th and 12^th. Justice B.V. Nagarathna, while addressing the audience, asked, "whether the real goal of education has been achieved?”

“A system of education centered around ranks, seats, inter, scores etc. often makes us wonder if we have at some point lost sight of the real objectives of education. The goal of education is compatible with our constitutional goal of fraternity…fraternity, in my view, is the key for deepening of our democracy."

“The seeds of respect for fraternity, equality and dignity must be sown in every child at a tender age and must be nurtured through childhood, adolescence and early adulthood.”

On good governance, she spoke that “citizens must not only be consumers of good governance but also be co-creators for the same.”

“It must, therefore, be our foremost national agenda to educate, empower and build character of every citizen of our nation so that they are able to contribute towards the achievement of lofty objective of good governance.”

In the end, while addressing the graduates, she highlighted that human experience is the foremost important frontier of education, and the same lies outside the realm of formal education. “Therefore, the need for learning should not be diminished following graduation and it is imperative that effective transition is made from curriculum-directed learning to lifelong self-directed education."

“Dear Graduates,

I hope you do not risk valuing rhetoric over reason, party over principle and ideology over evidence.”