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| NC also leader jumps on to bandwagon of protagonists of local VC of JCU | | | RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, May 9: If what appeared in a section of print media the other day is correct, then it should not surprise anyone in the state. The case in point is the report that senior National Conference leader and former Cabinet Minister S Harbans Singh, who is also a very important member of Forum of Recognized Colleges (FORCE), has supported the demand in Jammu seeking appointment of a Jammu-based academician as Vice-Chancellor of the Jammu Central University. He supported the demand, according to insiders, while speaking at the FORCE meeting, held a couple of days ago in Jammu to discuss issues and problems facing private colleges, including B.Ed Colleges, located in Jammu province.
According to a reliable insider, the "former Cabinet Minister expressed himself in favour of the demand being made by the Jammu Central University Morcha (JCUM) and Jammu Provincial People's Forum (JPPF) that the Jammu Central University must be headed by a local academician because all the universities in the state at present are headed either by academicians from Kashmir or from outside the state". The same source revealed that "S Harbans Singh supported the demand in the presence of Medical Education Minister R S Chib and Higher Education Minister Abdul Gani Malik" and that he expressed the view that "it is strange that the 41-year-old University of Jammu has so far been headed only by three local academicians". "He also said in the meeting that there are academicians of repute in Jammu".
The insider further revealed that "S Harbans Singh said during the FORCE meeting that it is strange that while outsiders are being appointed as Vice-Chancellor of the Jammu-based universities, none from Jammu had ever been appointed as Vice-Chancellor of any of the universities, located in different parts of the country" and that "this is not justifiable".
The support of S Harbans Singh to the demand in Jammu for a local Vice-Chancellor of the Jammu Central University would certainly help the National Conference win over the people of Jammu province. By supporting the demand, S Harbans Singh has only strengthened the hands of the Jammu-based Congress MPs Lal Singh and Madan Lal, who have taken up the issue with the authorities in New Delhi in a big way. Besides, the support of the senior National Conference leader to the demand shows that all the political groups, barring People's Democratic Party and BJP, are one as far as their stand on this issue is concerned.
As for the PDP and BJP, less said the better. Suffice it to say that while it was the BJP that planted Prof Amitabh Mattoo in the University of Jammu to implement the Atal Bihari Vajpayee's segregate-Kashmir-from-India agenda, the PDP found Amitabh Mattoo suitable for preparing the ground in Jammu for the implementation of its pro-Pakistan self-rule agenda. The PDP and the BJP have all through worked together and the anti-PDP statements being issued by the BJP from time to time are only for public consumption or to befool the people of Jammu province.
It may be mentioned that Dr Farooq Abdullah and other senior National Conference leaders, especially Mohammad Shafi Uri, had not taken kindly to the inclusion of the name of Prof Amitabh Mattoo in the panel containing names of those who could be considered for appointment as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jammu. The search committee had been constituted by the then Governor Girish Saxena and it had submitted the panel to him as early as at the beginning of 2002. But no action was taken on it because the then government was not interested in Prof Amitabh Mattoo. It was because of the stand taken by the then state government that Amitabh Mattoo could not replace Prof R R Sharma as the Vice-Chancellor at the beginning of 2002. Had Dr. Farooq Abdullah's national Conference won the 2002 Assembly elections, someone else would have become the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jammu.
There are enough reasons to believe that the attitude of Dr Farooq Abdullah and his colleagues towards Amitabh Mattoo has not undergone any change. Rather, there are reasons to believe that their attitude to him has become more hostile considering the proximity of Amitabh Mattoo with the PDP leaders, especially Mufti Mohammd Sayeed, who became instrumental in getting Amitabh Mattoo's term as Vice-Chancellor extended by another three years and that, too, when Amitabh Mattoo still had one year left to complete his first term. This was the first case of extension of its own kind in the world. A man who still had one year left to complete his first term was given extension for another three years.
Anyway, whatever the reason, the support of S Harbans Singh to the loud clamour in Jammu for the appointment of a local as Vice-Chancellor has given a new twist to the ongoing controversy over this important issue.
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