Universities for National Strength

Impactful higher education requires single-campus universities—ideally designed as townships—that conduct research and training across all major fields of knowledge. These institutions must be built on binding conventions that uphold rational inquiry, excellence, and the public good as enduring principles, regardless of changing circumstances.

In today’s global context, higher education must make a dedicated effort to strengthen national power. A strong, capable nation is best positioned to make a lasting and positive contribution to the advancement of humanity.

In this context, it is a fact that the role of native big corporations is vital for national power. Large-scale corporations, through their constant pursuit of efficiency and innovation, churn people's potential into agency; therefore, higher education must contribute to this goal. Higher education must repurpose itself strategically to foster the spirit of entrepreneurship and impart the necessary skills for various roles in corporations. To add another point: in this era of fierce international competition and conflicts, having formal entities incorporating the functions of both universities and business corporations would give a clear edge to the nation.

To support this vision, training in sciences, technology, and engineering must be rigorous, hands-on, and outcome-oriented. Institutions of higher learning must be well-resourced and foster a focused and positive academic environment. Achieving excellence requires individuals to fully dedicate themselves to their chosen fields.

Niraj Kumar Jha

The Role of Teachers

In this age of chatbots—tools that can access the vast ocean of knowledge and curate it to respond to prompts—what, then, remains of the role of a teacher, or more precisely, a human teacher? One might exclaim, “Very little!” But that is far from the truth.

People will always seek living practitioners of knowledge—real, human guides who can offer support and mentorship. Learners of all kinds need an informed, compassionate human presence—someone who can personally appreciate their efforts and, when needed, lovingly correct them. Encouragement and discipline have always been, and will continue to be, inherently human responsibilities.

The key is that teachers must become even more humane in their approach, redefining their roles to help shape a better world and actively resist the drift toward irrelevance in an increasingly automated age. In doing so, they reclaim their indispensable place as nurturers of wisdom, character, and emotional understanding—dimensions that machines cannot authentically replicate.

At the same time, societies and communities must strive to recruit the very best individuals into the teaching profession. There is no better way to harness the benefits of advancing technologies while also mitigating their potential harms.

Niraj Kumar Jha

India’s Rise: Another Milestone Achieved

India's emergence as the fourth-largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP is a definitive milestone in India's journey to its deserved position. Nominal GDP rankings are a key indicator of a nation's international stature and economic influence. India has the potential to rank among the world’s wealthiest countries even in terms of per capita GDP.

The country's prolonged poverty can be largely attributed to centuries of foreign rule and the collectivist or leftist policies that followed independence. However, the gradual retreat from collectivism has yielded remarkable results. The endemic poverty that plagued India until the 1990s is, for the most part, a thing of the past.

In today's world, where homeland economics and aggressive economic nationalism dominate international relations, major economies are making concerted efforts to assert their interests globally. The lesson is clear: every citizen must play a role in advancing the national power. One meaningful way to do this is by supporting sound and forward-looking ideas and policies.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Truthfulness

Truthfulness is a civilizational virtue ingrained in human beings. A civilisation, not every civilisation, does this in degrees to people who live within its fold. It does this to people, but not all people become capable of knowing and upholding truthfulness. At this level, in an enabling ambience made of civilisation, truthfulness is an endeavour of a social unit like a family, a community, or an individual.

Biological human beings can upgrade themselves into truthful human beings through elaborate arrangements and personal efforts.

Working truths at the existential level within a civilizational fold are very personal affairs. First, a person is mentored and makes efforts to be a knower of truths, and then that turns out to be a very simple virtue: a person knows from their heart what is a truth. A heart speaks the truth if the mind is sufficiently trained.

Finally, truthfulness is a behavioural trait. A truthful person cares.

Niraj Kumar Jha

True Wisdom

How people conceive ideas and actions as wise or ignorant is culturally determined, ideologically imposed, or driven by power. Science often subserves social trends instead of guiding them. If one understands this, one would know that wisdom and ignorance are not like light and darkness. Ignorance is not the absence of wisdom; both have their respective social foundations, nurturing ecologies, and they coexist. They inhabit the same space. As there is nothing intrinsically worthwhile or worthless about either, they are not only in a conflictual relationship of domination and defiance but also in one of cooperation and co-option.

What is the takeaway from this predicament? True wisdom begins with self-scrutiny—examining all ideas with empathy, and then taking a stand, only if required. One who calls another foolish may themselves be mistaken, merely asserting a position of superiority. Wisdom is not about dismissing someone as a fool or something as foolish, but about uncovering the causes and conditions that place people in such states. True wisdom does not allow people to become devils, thereby forcing good people into mortal combat with them later. That is not wisdom. Wisdom lies in preventing evil, not in fighting it.

The message: If you are truly wise, you do not find a fool.

— Niraj Kumar Jha

औपनिवेशिक ज्ञानमीमांसा का निदान

औपनिवेशीकरण मात्र जन और जमीन को विजित करना ही नहीं बल्कि फायदे में रहते हुए आधिपत्य को सुरक्षित रखना भी था। खर्च कम और अधिक लाभ के लिए उन्होंने रणनीतिक ज्ञानमीमांसा का उपयोग किया।

उपनिवेशवाद एक ज्ञानमीमांसात्मक परियोजना थी, जो साम्राज्यवादी हितसाधन, दूसरे शब्दों में, दाससेवा का सुख, रोमांचकारी क्रियाकलापों, और धनप्राप्ति के लिए दासों में दासत्व को लेकर गर्व, स्वामी के प्रति श्रद्धा और उनपर निर्भरता का भाव और स्थितियाँ निर्मित करता था।

दंड, वंचना और क्षुद्र पुरस्कारों का प्रयोग करते हुए उन्होंने ज्ञानमीमांसा और प्रणालियों का ऐसा इंद्रजाल बुना जिससे लोगों की ज्ञान दृष्टि बाधित हो गई और उनका मस्तिष्क अज्ञान जनित छवियों से आच्छादित रहने लगा। उन्हें इसमें अधिक सफलता इसलिए भी मिली कि लोग पूर्व से ही आधिपत्य में रह रहे थे।

इस स्थिति से मुक्ति का सतही प्रयास उस दलदल में गहरे फँसना है। इसके लिए स्वतंत्र और सशक्त ज्ञानमीमांसात्मक संयंत्र विकसित करने की आवश्यकता है।

नीरज कुमार झा