Nationalism lessons a big draw at JNU

While Parliament is busy in heated debates over “nationalism”, Jawaharlal Nehru University, which has been at the centre of a raging controversy in recent times, continues with its intent of decoding the idea of a nation.

As part of a series of lectures on nationalism being imparted by prominent scholars at the university, historian Tanika Sarkar spoke of Mahatma Gandhi’s views on the nation on Thursday.

Speaking to a crowd of about 200, many of whom calmly sat on the ground with their notebooks and pens, outside the administration block of the university, Ms. Sarkar explained Gandhiji’s nation by juxtaposing it with that of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the powerful ideologue of Hindutva.