The Idea of a 'University' : What It Should or Should Not Be!

John Henry Newman's The Idea of a University is a classic work on university education which conceptualised university as a society in which the student absorbs the graces and accomplishments of a higher form of life. It is a place where the pursuit of truth and the active discussion of its meaning integrate into a wider culture, in which the ideal of the gentleman is acknowledged as the standard (Ker, 2011:19). This commentary appreciates the Newman's idea of ‘University' and is evolved with an analysis that how universities in India are ‘steered' from outside and ‘managed' internally to accept changes as per the political anticipation of the ruling parties. From the last five decades, after every general election, whenever there is a change in the government at central and state level, universities are the first to be affected by the ideology/policy-related ambitions of the political parties which forms the government. This trend is in fashion since old time and is not specific to India only. Even in Germany, when Hitler seized the political power, Frankfurt University was the first one targeted for ideological reasons, owing to which the liberal democratic minded professors and intellectuals were forced to leave Germany. This eventually benefited the UK and US universities not only in making their higher education more liberal with the help of these intellectuals but also enriching their scientific research and inventions in post world war period