Over the past 70 days, the borders of JNU have come down in the most disastrous ways, and the spirit of exchange between the nation and the university, the city and the campus gone toxic in the bitterest way possible.
The gesture of a smiling young woman offering a rose to a heavily armed male policeman that went viral is a powerful symbol today in the violent country called India.
No private university, no matter how excellent, can fulfil the staggeringly vast and demanding responsibilities that only a public university can address.
In a country like India, where primary education remains a luxury for many, higher education is a crucial avenue of serious upward mobility, not least because so few get access to it.
The nation and its universities have moved farther apart from one another than ever before. In a developing country with an exploding youth population, there are few stories that are more tragic.
