3 days ago
JNU hosts first Indian Knowledge meet, Vice President seeks cultural revival
India must reclaim its intellectual sovereignty, said Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar while inaugurating the first annual academic conference on Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) hosted by Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) from July 10 to conference, themed 'The Resurgence of IKS: Finding what we have, learning what we learnt,' marked a significant initiative to promote Indic traditions across at the inaugural session, the Vice President said, 'It is a delight to inaugurate the First Annual Academic Conference on Indian Knowledge System. It has not come a day too soon.' Lauding the organisers -- JNU and Theiksha (Indian Knowledge Systems Heritage Alliance) -- he emphasised the need to reconnect with India's civilisational roots and correct the historical erasure of its indigenous
'The lamp of knowledge that once burned bright in the halls of Nalanda and Takshashila must be rekindled through discourse here,' he said, urging scholars and institutions to create spaces where ancient and modern disciplines could engage in TAKES A LEAD IN IKS INITIATIVEThe conference, organised in collaboration with the Indian Knowledge Systems Heritage Alliance (IKSHA), the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), and the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), received over 600 extended abstracts from more than 120 these, 100 papers were selected for presentation across 17 focused sessions based on originality, rigour, and Yugank Goyal from FLAME University, representing IKSHA, said the selection process was rigorous. 'First, authors submitted extended abstracts. Those accepted were then invited to submit full drafts for final review,' he TEXTBOOKS: A CALL FOR REINVENTIONVice President Dhankhar underlined that India's ancient centres of learning like Takshashila and Nalanda were once global hubs for knowledge, attracting scholars from across Asia. He noted that colonial and earlier invasions disrupted this flow, replacing intellectual inquiry with utilitarian training."Our glorious, inalienable facet over millennia. We stopped thinking, contemplating, writing, and philosophizing. We started cramming, regurgitating, and swallowing. Grades replaced critical thinking. The great Bharatiya Vidya Parampara and its allied institutions were systematically drained, destructed and decimated," he said."Now is the time to cast off the chains of borrowed narratives, inherit distortions. It is time to reclaim our intellectual sovereignty."He urged institutions like JNU to become 'laboratories of this great intellectual reinvigoration' by integrating fields such as philology, computational analysis, and ethnography in IKS WITHOUT DILUTIONThe Vice President also stressed that India must globalise its knowledge systems without losing their depth. "Our knowledge traditions had reached the shores of the world centuries ago. From the pristine and towering spires of Angkor Wat to the unalloyed performance of Ramayana in Southeast Asia, Indian Knowledge Systems continue to radiate from hotspots around the world. We should reclaim that heritage," he the need for tangible outcomes, he called for the digitisation of manuscripts in Sanskrit, Tamil, Pali, and Prakrit, and the development of training programmes to equip young scholars with robust methodologies.'Friends, this endeavour cannot remain confined to India. The time has come to globalise Indian knowledge without diluting its depth,' he said.- Ends
