If gold rusts, what shall iron do?

The fact that the majority of the universities in Kerala still do not have regular VCs and the university campuses, including the University of Kerala, continue to be plagued by conflict, has cast a dark shadow on the illustrious higher education sector of Kerala. The main indicator that we always utilise to say that Kerala is superior to other states in the country is the achievements made by Kerala in the field of education. We can all be proud of the fact that education has been democratized and universalized in general.

The diligence we are showing in organising and improving not only higher education but also general education in line with the times by utilising modern scientific and technological advances is commendable. However, developments that have been taking place for the past few days, especially in the capital, make us wonder whether the ornaments and decorations of these proud institutions are collapsing. The University of Kerala is the first higher education institution in Kerala and the first priority in the country. It is now literally at a standstill. The academic and administrative stagnation was brought about to protect political interests.

The University of Kerala is steeped in rich history and tradition. This garden of knowledge is the shining light of the blessings bestowed upon us by the monarchy. This university was established in 1937 by Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma Maharaja under the name of Travancore University. Its first rays came from the imagination of Swathi Thirunal in 1934. The establishment of University College in 1866 and the University of Kerala in 1957 are also beacons on the bright path of Kerala's past history. Established on the model of the famous universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England in 1937, an attempt was made to bring Albert Einstein as the first VC of Kerala University. Dewan Sir CP Ramaswamy Iyer became the first VC as that attempt failed. All the VCs who came after that have made their mark in the fields of education, science, and philosophy and have shed unquenchable flames on the higher education sector in Kerala.

Those who are currently fighting with each other in the university, be it the VC, the registrar or the leaders of student organizations, have nothing to lose. The loss is entirely for the students. Therefore, the administrators who are interested in the future of the students should come forward together to end this issue. This fight should not be continued for a moment longer.

A centre of knowledge production that includes more than 150 colleges and research institutes. The university has the Sanskrit words 'Karmaṇi Vyajyate Prajñā', which means 'wisdom is revealed in action', as its motto. Thought is needed about whether the academic administration and student organisations of the university are working in a way that is consistent with the essence of this motto. As the fourteenth-century English writer Geoffrey Chaucer wrote, 'If gold rusts, what shall iron do?