Prof Datta’s Great Contribution to Kurukshetra
Middle article in The Tribune on December 4, 2020
Renowned historian Prof. V.N.
Datta, who unfortunately passed away recently, came to the newly established
Kurukshetra University as Head of Department of History from the national
capital, in 1961. Kurukshetra was, at the time, an underdeveloped part of the
state of Punjab, and Prof Datta only agreed to transfer to the local University
on the persuasion of the then Vice-Chancellor, Hardawari Lal. Prof Datta went
on to serve the University in various capacities and contributed immensely to
raising the stature of Kurukshetra University the world over. In addition, Prof
V. N. Datta helped to create a culturally vibrant atmosphere within the
University and the otherwise sleepy small town of Thanesar!
Through his offices and
relationships, Prof Datta brought many luminaries to address the university
during those days, including the then Union Defence Minister, Mr. V.K. Krishna
Menon. These events offered many local residents of Kurukshetra, like myself,
an opportunity to engage with such luminaries first-hand, and are still fresh
in my mind today. Prof Datta would routinely organise and encourage poetry
recitation ‘mushairas’ and singing sessions of prominent singers of the day. In
fact, on Prof. Datta’s invitation, the famous Pakistani singer, Faiz Ahmad
Faiz, came to Kurukshetra University on September 5, 1978, after he was
expelled from Pakistan by the dictator Gen. Zia-Ul-Haq. Faiz stayed on the
University campus for two days and enthralled the audience in the University
auditorium with his poems, including the famous call for a people’s revolution:
‘Hum dekhen gai, Lajim hai ke ham bhi degaingai—Jab Taj uchhale jayangai Takhat
giraya jayagai, hum dekhen gai’.
Jagjit Singh, who later became a
world-famous Ghazalist, was encouraged to transfer to Kurukshetra University
from DAV College, Jallunder, as a student of MA History, by then
Vice-Chancellor, Lala Suraj Bhan. Jagjit Singh often sang at social settings
organised at the university, including at Prof Datta’s residence, who
encouraged him to pursue his passion, for which the singer decided to shift to
Mumbai, and the rest is history!
Prof Datta’s love for Kurukshetra
and the history surrounding the town of Kurukshetra stood out during the period
of the Emergency. Bansi Lal, the then Union Defence Minister, held tremendous
influence in the state of Haryana. He ensured that the then Governor of
Haryana, B.N. Chakarvarty, was cremated in the Kurukshetra University campus,
and then ordered that the University be renamed in memory of the governor. In
the reigning atmosphere of fear, no University official dared oppose the dictat
– a few senior teachers with affiliation to the RSS were already in jail, and
no teacher or official was ready to openly challenge the move, even though
privately most were opposed to it.
The issue came to a head six
months later when a Professor at the Kurukshetra University was arrested for
his disapproving comment about the change of the university’s name to B.N.
Chakravarty University. Many university staff took their grievance to Prof.
Datta, hoping he might be able to influence the powers that be.
Prof. Datta had a good association
with Harivansh Rai Bachan and Teji Bachan since their days together at
Cambridge University, in England. Through Teji Bachan, he took the matter to
the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. After initial pleasantries, Indira
enquired as to what she could do for the mild-mannered professor. Prof Datta
immediately declared that while he had no request for his own benefit, Indira
could certainly do something for the annals of history! He explained the angst
prevailing within the University campus, and then narrated from his own recent
experience of having met with Prince Philip, who was the chief guest at a
seminar that he had attended at Cambridge University. He described how, as he
was introduced to the Prince, the latter exclaimed, “Oh, from Kurukshetra, the
land of the Mahabharata and the holy Gita!”
Indira appreciated Prof Datta’s
point, and even though she had a soft corner for Chakravarty, soon after she
ordered the reversal of the University’s name to Kurukshetra University.
Prof. Datta was also instrumental
in Kurukshetra’s development, particularly during the tenure of Mr. Jagmohan as
Union Minister for Tourism and Culture. I was privileged to attend many
meetings that he organised to discuss various development projects for the
city, many of which have gone on to become a significant attraction for visiting
pilgrims and tourists.
In the rare photograph attached,
Prof. Datta is seen third from left in the front row; Faiz Ahmad Faiz is fifth
in the front; eminent economist and then Vice-Chancellor Kurukshetra
University, Prof. Vikas Mishra, Registrar, Prof. R.P. Hooda, is also present,
with other members of the ‘Yug Kiran Cultural Society’.
