Although the precise definition of autonomy remains to be articulated in Indian education policy circles, there is emerging consensus that our colleges and universities need a freer rein if students and teachers have to realize their academic potential to the fullest.
The prompt withdrawal of Rohinton Mistry's Such a Long Journey at the behest of the Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena activists makes a complete mockery of academic freedom that is central to education reform. Our classrooms are increasingly run by multiple power centres, and most of these fiefdoms don’t understand the stakes in the disciplines they are lording over. Besides issues of pay and inadequate infrastructure, the best and brightest in our country don't enter teaching, or quit prematurely, because of this absurd micromanagement of intellectual labour and intellectual capital. The notice to colleges to withdraw Mistry's novel by the Vice-Chancellor of Mumbai University was a new low even by these sorry standards. Furthermore, in an interview to a leading news channel, the chief minister of Maharashtra virtually toed the line of the Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena activists. According to Mr. Ashok Chavan, " the highly objectionable language" in sections of Mistry's novel made it an unwise choice in the SYBA syllabus of Mumbai University.