There was once a city called ‘The City of Ideas’. It was
known far and wide for its culture of questioning, debating, discussing,
disagreeing, arguing and naturally, generating more and more ideas in the
process. It was a city filled with numerous schools, colleges, Universities and
Institutions of learning. People from all over the world vied to earn
themselves the chance of visiting this city, studying here and staying here.
This thriving culture of dissent made a section of the
population utterly uncomfortable. It could-not tolerate this threat to the
structure of the society, which the ancients had so carefully designed. The
painstakingly formulated rules and regulations that should govern society had
to be followed to the hilt, otherwise only chaos would ensue. They watched this
atmosphere of free exchange of ideas with horror. However, they did-not sit
still. They started building up their strength right at the core, at the
organizational level. With sheer discipline they soon built up a huge organization
that had its presence right from the ground level, in schools, colleges and
Universities, till the top, in the political echelons.
Finally, they became the rulers of the land. All opposition
had been completely crushed. They were now not only ruling the city but also
the minds and hearts of the majority of the city dwellers. However, there was
still a section of the society that was causing mischief. They were the rebels
and the dissenters who had the courage to think, critique and question the
status-quo. They were refusing to surrender their inalienable right to their
minds. All kinds of methods were used to make them fall in line. These
dissenters were acting cleverly and carrying out all their activities within
the confines of the law of the land. They could not be made to break the rules
and laws. But how did it matter? Rules and laws could definitely be changed, to
break them. It was done swiftly. With great alacrity. The dissenters were
silenced by putting them behind bars, by questioning their claims of being
‘loyal’ and ‘dutiful’ citizens of the nation, by changing the definition of the
term ‘patriotism’ overnight and by shifting the goalposts so often that no one
could be sure of anything any longer. This strategy worked wonders on the
majority, the large group of conformists, who now started worshipping the
rulers. But this group of dissenters refused to be sidelined, ignored or
silenced so easily. Something had to be done to eradicate the entire phenomenon
from the root itself. Something had to be done so that the irritant breed of
dissenters completely vanishes from the city, and no new dissenter is ever born
in the city.
The final decision was taken and implemented. The death
warrant for the culture of dissent, of debates, of disagreements, and of
arguments, was signed. The destruction was now complete. This time the attack
did-not target the branches, but the entire tree was uprooted. And how was it
done? This entire culture of dissent had its birthplace in the system of open
and free education that the ‘City of Ideas’ encouraged. It was a system where
students were not only prodded to think, to question and to critique but were aggressively
forced to do so. The culture of critical thinking was fiercely implemented.
This culture, thus, became the natural strike point for the new rulers. They
brought in a completely new policy, which ensured that it became impossible for
students to get admission into the Institutions of learning. It was all of
course completely justified, as the teachers in these hallowed institutions
could not be expected to overburden themselves and consequently compromise on
the quality of guidance they were providing to their under-studies. Thus, it
was decreed that they be allowed only to take in a particular number of under-studies.
This number of-course was not based on any logic or rationale or for that
matter, any scientific study conducted by experts, but on whims and fancies of
the rulers. And so, it was fixed to be so low that for years together, no
student could think of taking up research in these institutions. Of-course it
did-not matter that the teachers and the students alike, were appalled. They
knew it was the death sentence for their respective communities and their
cultures, which would now become totally extinct. But this was only a minor
irritant, was it not? The larger goal had been successfully accomplished. The
status-quo would now be preserved for generations to come. No-one could now
rise to question the carefully designed structure of society. No-one could now
even dream of being a dissenter. The era of conformists would now last for ages
together, till such time that the original culture of the ‘City of ideas’ is
completely struck off, even from the world of memories.
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