Blowing the whistle

It is necessary for him who lays out a state and arranges laws for it to presuppose that all men are evil and that they are always going to act according to the wickedness of their spirits whenever they have free scope. Niccolo Machiavelli

What Machiavelli said was intended to help “Princes” to elongate their ruler ship on their subjects, whereas what he didn’t knew was that there was a time coming up where educational institutions would use his political philosophies to control their students. I would not be able to comment on other institutions in the region, but the institution which I myself belong to would indicate the adversity of the educational institutions which this part of the world has. Where the administrators and professors tend to be more like the “Prince” which Machiavelli refers to, where the students are not learners rather are treated as subjects, subjects who do not have the right to question, subjects who are taught to bow their heads in front of the Princes (Authorities), subjects who are asked to believe in whatever they are taught, subjects who would be Jailed if they stand against the adversity of the institutions!

Wait a second, did I just wrote “Jailed”??

Certainly I did, and I may surprise the readers that Nazism has not limited itself to the government officials, the concept has now taken a step forward, now it lies with the Administrators and Teachers who are considered to be the more conscious part of the society.

As I commented earlier, I may not be able to judge other institutions but this claim turns true when it comes to the Institution I belong to, Iqra University. Recently the students of Iqra University (Defense View campus) received messages from the official Sms server of the University. It said

“As per electronic crime ordinance of 2009 section 13, harassing, defaming or threatening any person or organization through sms/ email is a crime. Penalty: seven years in Prison. Iqra University has started legal action through all concerned agencies against all those involved in sending emails, making online pages, or sending sms to defame I.U. If you receive any such message or email kindly give the number/address and contents to the controller of the Administration.”

I.U. SMS SERVER

Machiavelli in another instance said

“It is safer to be feared than to be loved”.

Well, this is the very case of the institution I belong to, the question which arises by the threats of the University to the students is that why would a student defame the institution which they themselves are a part of? There must be something very wrong if they are going for such measures. The tactics which the university is using to silence its “subjects”, reminds us very much of the colonies of the past, where the subjects were asked to forcefully admire the wrongs of the system. And the manipulating tactics which the teachers are asked to use in the classes is also worth mentioning, where they ask the students to not to criticize the university as this would adversely affect their careers, the “outer world” knowing the weaknesses of the institution would decrease the prestige of the graduates themselves.

The University reminding the students of laws has certainly forgotten basic human rights. Article 19 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights state:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

Whereas not only this, the educational institutions must also understand that fear might generate obedient subjects but freedom would produce bright students. And weaknesses can’t be dealt by suppression; they should be faced and addressed. The students themselves want to contribute as much for the progress of the institution as much as the administration does, presupposing their wickedness is not a solution. To reshape the society from being submissive to creative, we all have equal responsibilities. I would conclude with an extract from Paulo Friere’s book “Pedagogy of Oppressed”,

...our relationship with the learners demands that we respect them and demands equally that we be aware of the concrete conditions of their world, the conditions that shape them. To try to know the reality that our students live is a task that the educational practice imposes on us: Without this, we have no access ' to the way they think, so only with great difficulty can we perceive what and how they know.

... there are no themes or values of which one cannot speak, no areas in which one must be silent. We can talk about everything, and we can give testimony about everything.