Everybody leaves,
Something unfinished;
Which is then,
Completed by others.
– Bodhisatwa in Adhoora-Poora
Complexities of a dream scheme begin to unfold as soon as its realisation appears imminent. As long as a South Asian University (SAU) was only an aspiration, it was easy to talk about it in idealistic terms. But now that it has a website, a 'chief executive officer' and 100 acres of prime land near Mehrauli in New Delhi, the shape that the institution may take has started to create yearnings and fresh desires. SAU was first envisioned as something of a descendent of the Taxila, Nalanda or Sompura centres of learning in ancient India. What finally emerges from ongoing exercises, it seems, will be little more than a hoped-for 'new, improved' form of various universities that dot the landscape.
The hope was that a Southasian university would pave the way for the creation of a community of scholars and academics that would see the region as one entity consisting of many states and nationalities, and share its collective heritage and knowledge with the rest of the world. The fear now is that SAU will turn out to be no more than an intergovernmental body like its parent institution, the SAARC. At least that is the way it appears to be headed, with multinational taskforces discussing the curriculum, governance, infrastructure and business plan of the university, expected to be partially operational from next year. The 13th SAARC Summit in Dhaka appropriated the idea of a SAU in December 2005, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tabled a conceptual proposal. It was then formalised with a consensual decision at the 14th Summit in New Delhi, from where the Indian government took it upon itself to see the project through. Consultants were assigned, officers appointed and an initial budget allotted. Perceived as a prestige project and the brainchild of the prime minister, the South Block bureaucracy marshalled its considerable resources to see the scheme through in double-quick time.
In keeping with the tradition of not stepping on anybody's toes, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee was correct to a fault while laying the foundation stone of the university in the presence of diplomats from member countries of the SAARC in May 2008. "This moment, which has the potential of deeply influencing the collective future of Southasia, represents also the collective will of Southasia's leaders to pursue projects aimed at promoting harmony among the future generations of this region," Mukherjee gushed at the dedication ceremony. But at best, political correctness can build nothing more than world-class training institutes. More is required of a university before it earns the right to be called one.