Critical thinking is soul of JNU; it inspired students to think, ask questions: Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday (January 12, 2026) said critical thinking has been the soul of Jawaharlal Nehru University, and “intellectual centre”, where “argumentation, discussion, cultural expression, and intellectual exchange” were seen as part of the varsity’s “living culture”, which had inspired students to think and ask questions “beyond classrooms and libraries”.

“Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that debate, discussion, and dissent are essential to democracy,” Mr. Pradhan said.

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Speaking at the ninth Convocation ceremony at the University, the Education Minister said that JNU’s “academic environment and leadership” have always been a “strong centre for development, even if their opinions and methods were different from each other”.

Mr. Pradhan then cited former students such as Dr. DP Tripathy, CPI(M) leaders Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat, and John Brittas, and his colleagues in the Cabinet, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and asked students to note how they had made a mark of their own in social life.

This comes a week after the JNU administration reported its students, some of them members of the Students’ Union, to the Delhi Police for raising “objectionable slogans” against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, during a protest meet to mark an attack on its campus five years ago that coincided with news that a former student Umar Khalid, had been denied bail in the Delhi riots conspiracy case.

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At the convocation, the Education Minister said, “Through years of consistent academic contributions, JNU has established a strong and distinctive tradition of academic excellence. It has been one of the leading universities in the country that has embraced genuine academic autonomy in an interdisciplinary environment.”

In his address, Mr. Pradhan emphasised Parliament’s resolve and vision in giving birth to an institute like JNU that was focussed on principles of academic excellence.

He added that it was also found that many of the things formalised by the National Education Policy of 2020 were already in practice at JNU.

“Critical thinking is the soul of JNU. This University does not teach students rote learning or just learning information by heart. It instead inspires them to think and ask questions,” Mr. Pradhan said, adding that his expectation from the graduating students was that they will “carry forward the tradition of JNU’s inclusivity, social justice, and responsibility; become the voice of the deprived, and formulate strategies to reduce inequalities”.

“Some of you reach Parliament and State Assemblies to strengthen democracy, some fulfill the duty of national service in the Kartavya Bhawan, some strengthen India’s global role as strategic experts and Ambassadors,” he said, adding that while others could lay the foundation stones for start-ups and unicorns, yet, others could become writers, journalists and thought leaders, who could “guide the nation’s ideological discourse”.

“The country expects from you an active, positive, and meaningful contribution in realising the resolve of our respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a Viksit Bharat by 2047,” the Education Minister said.