Why mocking researchers is no substitute for opposing Hindutva

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* 

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's remarks describing IIT Madras Director Prof. V. Kamakoti as a "gaumutra expert" (cow urine expert) reveal not only the political culture of the Congress Party but also expose the nature of Hindutva politics under the BJP. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has every right to question, criticise and oppose public spending on programmes such as the Scientific Utilization through Research Augmentation–Prime Products from Indigenous Cows (SUTRA-PIC) initiative and its promotion of "cowpathy." Public expenditure on research is a legitimate subject of democratic scrutiny. Moreover, research on the medicinal and agricultural uses of cow dung and cow urine is not entirely novel; institutions such as Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) have undertaken similar work, raising legitimate questions about the programme's originality and scientific contribution.

However, a researcher must have the freedom to investigate any subject that merits scholarly inquiry. Academic freedom is fundamental to the production of knowledge. At the same time, it is the responsibility of researchers and visionary political leadership to shape broad research priorities that address pressing social needs and contemporary global challenges. Such an environment encourages the creation of new knowledge, challenges established orthodoxies and expands existing understanding through rigorous empirical and theoretical inquiry.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's remarks do not advance these objectives. Instead of holding the Hindutva government accountable for its policies, she chose to ridicule an individual researcher. In doing so, she reflected a troubling illiberal tendency within the Congress Party regarding research autonomy. Equally revealing is the BJP's reaction, which reflects an ideological insecurity. If a scholar researches cow urine, describing that person as an expert on the subject should not be construed as an insult. Expertise follows from sustained scholarly engagement with a subject, whatever that subject may be.

Political interference in research undermines the conditions necessary for the creation, dissemination and advancement of knowledge. Research is not defined merely by academic qualifications but by the capacity to generate new knowledge, challenge existing assumptions and open new intellectual directions. A vibrant scientific culture depends upon diverse traditions of knowledge and the freedom to pursue inquiry without political intimidation.

Both the Congress Party and the BJP have contributed to weakening the constitutional foundations of higher education and research through persistent political interference. Neither party has articulated a coherent vision for research capable of advancing India's scientific, social and economic development. Funding biases, bureaucratic control and ideological intervention have steadily eroded the institutional autonomy essential for the growth of secular and scientific education.

Prof. V. Kamakoti is a distinguished academic with an established record of scholarship. His political and ideological affiliations, including any alignment with Hindutva, are entirely legitimate subjects of public criticism. As the head of one of India's premier institutions, his ideological positions may be debated and challenged. However, there is an important distinction between criticising a scholar's politics and ridiculing the subject of his research. Researchers must remain free to choose their fields of inquiry without fear of political mockery or interference. That autonomy lies at the heart of academic freedom.

The Congress Party therefore misdirects its criticism when it targets an individual academic rather than the government's broader policies affecting higher education and scientific research. Attacking a professor while allowing political leaders responsible for undermining research institutions to escape scrutiny weakens the opposition's own democratic role.

At the same time, there is little reason to expect the Hindutva government to defend genuine academic freedom. Hindutva, as a political ideology, has repeatedly sought to subordinate scientific inquiry to ideological objectives, weakening the secular and constitutional foundations of higher education. It functions within a broader political economy that increasingly commodifies education. The expansion of private and foreign universities reflects a model in which education becomes a market commodity rather than a constitutional commitment. In this respect, the Congress and the BJP converge. The Congress initiated the liberalisation and privatisation of higher education, while the BJP has accelerated the process. Their differences often obscure their shared commitment to policies that weaken public education and research.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is entirely free to criticise Prof. Kamakoti's political beliefs or ideological commitments. She is not justified, however, in disparaging his research or his choice of research topic. Respect for academic freedom requires recognising that scholars—not politicians—determine legitimate areas of inquiry. A public acknowledgement that her remarks crossed that line would strengthen rather than weaken the democratic case against Hindutva's ideological interventions in higher education.

The emancipatory potential of knowledge depends upon the freedom afforded to researchers. Only free researchers can produce knowledge capable of liberating society from ignorance and injustice. This principle is deeply rooted in the Indian intellectual tradition, captured in the maxim "Sā vidyā yā vimuktaye"—knowledge is that which liberates.

Today, both the Congress Party and the BJP appear more interested in controlling knowledge than protecting the conditions under which it flourishes. Scientific and secular knowledge has the potential to liberate people from poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, poor health, homelessness and blind belief. Such emancipatory knowledge inevitably questions established power. It is precisely this critical capacity that political elites often seek to suppress.

The struggle for research autonomy is therefore inseparable from the struggle to defend public education, scientific inquiry and constitutional democracy. India must reclaim its commitment to academic freedom, secular scholarship and institutional autonomy if it is to build a knowledge society capable of shaping a more just, prosperous and democratic future.

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*Academic based in UK