Underscoring the critical role of academia in national discourse, Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit said on Thursday that political power must be supported by narrative power, which requires the contribution of academic institutions.
“Political power requires narrative power. So, intellectuals are very important,” Ms. Pandit said in her welcome address for the first three-day annual conference on Indian Knowledge systems being held at the JNU.
The conference, jointly organised by the JNU and the Ministry of Education’s Indian Knowledge Systems Division, aimed to provide a forum for academics, researchers, and practitioners to present their views and research on Indian knowledge.
“We hope this first conference will come out with path-breaking papers and will form the basis for any systematic study of Indian knowledge systems. It will also help build narrative power with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to make Viksit Bharat,” said the V-C.
Inaugurating the conference, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said that as India rises on the global stage, it must be rooted in its own knowledge systems and cultural legacy. “This journey is not short; it will take decades of dedicated effort. Let this conference mark the beginning of that resurgence. It is now in the hands of our scholars and teachers to carry this initiative to great heights,” said Mr. Dhankhar.
