On the day before Teachers’ Day , one came across a curious sight on the pavement outside the AN College boundary wall along the Boring-Patliputra road. A woman journalist was addressing a gathering of about 25-30 students, all seated on chairs beside the road. There, amid the rush and tumble of Patna’s chaotic after-school traffic, a student outfit was holding a roadside seminar!

What were these young people discussing? “It’s about how politicians are working overtime to divide society on distorted religious pretexts,” said a second-year student. “It’s about this VHP-sponsored hate campaign to stop Hindus and Muslims from becoming friends. They call it ‘love jihad’. They want to prevent intermarriages between the two communities, because if there is intermarriage, there is greater bonding in society, and then divisive politics won’t work.”

Sanjay Kumar, a 20 something studying commerce felt the so-called ‘love jihad’ is something disgusting manufactured by a particular political nexus and it is a way of ensuring the domination of ‘Brahmanical caste system’. “In many intellectual and highly decent families there are intermarriages between people from different religions. The poisonous argument of these so-called saviours of Hindu prestige is this: it is not so bad if a Hindu boy marries a Muslim girl, but if a Muslim boy marries a Hindu girl , then it is a ‘jihad’ on the Hindu community ! So even in 21st century India, they may play with computer mouse, but their level of thinking is of snake charmers. So what if Pakistan doesn’t recognize minority rights. If Pakistanis jump into a well, must Indians do the same?”

Said Saloni, a first year student of arts, “Freedom of choice is a fundamental right. It applies to all aspects of a citizen’s life. But the seminar was not about ‘love jihad’, it was about being aware citizens. The speakers said we must read books. We must get to know the writings of the great Hindi poets and writers. Those people dreamed of a modern India without this ‘jaat-paat’. And maybe, we will find what it really means to be Indian. As university students, it is our duty to interact with the teachers, ask many questions and even challenge some ideas, so that we can get the best out of our classes.”

On Teachers’ Day at St. Xavier’s College in Digha, where girls and boys freely performed songs and dances on stage, one got a glimmer of an answer.

“The Quran actually says that jihad is a struggle for righteousness. Why not launch a real ‘love jihad’? A campaign for love and dignity among all Indians. We will do this by showing respect and love to people of all creeds and making friends, not enemies,” a student said.

It was here that someone reflected deeply on the divisions that have begun springing up in society in recent times, and how it is the responsibility of the teacher to become a role model. “It is the responsibility of teachers to ensure that the poison of hate, casteism and fanaticism is kept away from the classroom and the campus. The teacher should always be a proponent of love. The opening words of the pledge read out in many schools says ‘India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters.’ It’s a multicultural, multi-linguistic, multidimensional and multi-religious synergy and symbiosis that is India. Let’s not forget that.”

