Prof. Anil Bhatti
interviewed by Bhoomika Meiling

Bhoomika: How and when did your association with JNU begin?

Prof. Bhatti: I joined JNU way back in 1971. At that time JNU had just started in the old campus, with a handful of people. Since then I have seen JNU grow. JNU started as one of the national and international attempts to reform higher education in terms of teaching, research and organization. This effort was shared by institutions in some other countries also at the end of 1960’s. This time was significant because of all the socially conscious students’ movements it threw up. There was a growing dissatisfaction over the compartmentalization of knowledge and, hence, inter-disciplinarity became a significant theme for struggle in those days. Inter-disciplinarity is not possible without a democratic educational structure. These ideas converge towards the three basic components of university  social commitment, structural democracy and flexible inter-disciplinarity. All these components are manifest in the ethos of JNU and in the very structure of the schools, centres and courses. Also, right from the beginning, greater involvement of both students and teachers in the organization of teaching and research has given rise to a unique atmosphere here.

Bhoomika: What are the different dimensions of JNU’s international collaboration?

Prof. Bhatti: Today universities of the world are getting linked together in a systematic way. Interaction had always existed but systemization is becoming increasingly necessary. In other parts of the world, universities have had it for a long time. They have big, adequately staffed offices to address the problems of foreign students and to work on foreign collaboration. Because of internationalization of education we have become aware that we have to position ourselves in the system of international exchange. There are two basic prerequisites for this- firstly we need a sound infrastructure to handle the movement of students i.e. hostel facility, food and health facilities, interaction with foreigners’ registration authorities, visa requirements, etc. Secondly, we have to support inter-faculty exchange, research projects and involvement of students. International students’ exchange must be encouraged.  In other words, we need to work on three main fronts- faculty, students and infrastructural requirements.

Bhoomika: You have been a part of JNU for quite a long time and have witnessed several developments in this University over the years. What do you think has the trajectory of JNU’s foreign collaboration been like?

Prof. Bhatti: Earlier, the international collaboration was regulated through government-to-government exchange programmes or Indian scholarships. It was largely based on mutual government interests and followed certain traditional administrative patterns. Visits of foreign teachers were also largely regulated by these cultural exchange programmes. The major difference that we now get to see is that there is an attempt to do this in structured fashion in a largely bilateral way between universities and to take a positive view of reciprocal international movement. To deal with quantitative increase of movement especially that of students of course entails qualitative change in the infrastructure.              

Bhoomika: Which international regions are the main thrust areas for this department as of now?

Prof. Bhatti: International representatives from universities of all continents have been visiting JNU in order to explore the possibilities of collaboration. Meaningful collaboration though depends on a lot of other factors such as faculty, nature of projects, conferences, funds, etc. The level of research in disciplines varies from university to university, continent to continent and subject to subject. Therefore, no specific thrust areas can be demarcated as such. We are waiting for the linkages to develop and the University should support them wherever and whenever they become successful. In the process, thrust areas will develop out of experience.

Bhoomika: To what extent do the policies of the central government on international affairs affect your programmes?

Prof. Bhatti: Government is not directly involved. However, it is true that the international climate for interaction has changed. Therefore the University has to position itself strategically while maintaining its ethos, traditions and perspectives with which it was founded in the 1970’s.

Bhoomika: What do you think needs to be done to make a success of this endeavour?

Prof. Bhatti: We need very significant financial inputs and creation of an adequate budget to reinforce this awareness of international involvement. The position of funds is really inadequate and we hope that the funding agencies for the universities realize how important internationalization of education is and take it seriously. We can no longer depend on foreign funding and we have to generate reciprocity of student and faculty movement. At present there is a considerable imbalance in this area. We also need a greater degree of autonomy of the University to ensure a flexible structure of interaction with foreign universities.