Peak Woke

IT WAS EXTRAORDINARY to see YouTube clips of a US Congressional hearing recently in which presidents of three major universities—Harvard, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology—were questioned about open anti-Semitism on their campuses and to a simple question on whether calls for geno­cide against Jews were permissible on campuses, all three refused to give a straight no. It would have been a simple, honest and safe answer, and yet all replied with riders and caveats. This is because where they came from, any answer that goes against the ’progressive’ mentality—where Israel is seen as a war criminal and by exten­sion everyone who supports it—has potential for trouble.

Their excuse was that freedom of expression needed to be fostered in educa­tional institutions and words were, well, words until translated into conduct. It is an Orwellian defence because it is precise­ly institutions like these that made cancel culture mainstream, first in the US and then exported it to the rest of the world. And this culture has always maintained that words are violence, the reason why those who say the wrong things must be socially and professionally exiled.

But the world outside this bubble will not always play ball. The idea of genocide being part of free speech has led to such anger that all of these univer­sities are now hurrying to backtrack. For instance, the post on X from Harvard: “Statement from President Gay: There are some who have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students. Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account.” It offers no explanation for what she said during the hearing.

Indians might think that this phe­nomenon has nothing to do with them but that’s not really true. Everything in the West, bad ideas and good ideas, find their way here. Remember the MeToo movement some years back when the argument was that due process is not necessary in crimes of sexual harass­ment, and the outing and cancellation of alleged harassers was a good enough reason to do away with jurisprudence. The seeds of this radical departure first found root in the same reservoir of US academia and made its way here. The big issues of cultural activism that followed in the West, like racism and trans rights, have no resonance in India and so you haven’t seen its echo but it is just a matter of time that other issues will find a ready receptacle here.

All these ideas, including MeToo and the anti-Israel sentiment, are under­pinned by virtuous emotions but what seems to be a function of this era is the easy tipping over into the activist mindset without even realising it. For that thank or blame social media and we are only in the beginning of absurdities where calls to genocides can be made mainstream by people with good at heart.

About The Author

Madhavankutty Pillai

Madhavankutty Pillai has no specialisations whatsoever. He is among the last of the generalists. And also Open chief of bureau, Mumbai  

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