Honorary doctorates

Recently the Madras High court has questioned Dr.MGR medical university for conferring honorary doctorates to seven doctors .The list included the physicians of the Governor and Chief Minister. The court also observed doctorates can not be conferred like 'freebies' by the university or to satisfy the 'sweet wishes ' of those in authority.Honourbale judges Yusuf Iqbal and Sivagnam made these comments while deciding a public interest writ.I have always wondered on what basis the universities are confering the honarary doctorates. Ironically the university in question itself is named after a person who was conferred an honarary doctorate.Especially Tamilnadu can boast of large number of honarary doctors. Name any field,one can find umpteen number of honarary doctors. Switch on your TV and you will find a host of astrologers,numerologists,palmists Jem stone sellers,theologists and religious saints with honarary doctor's prefix to their names.Walk out to the streets you will find a host of  politicians having Dr. as a prefix to their names in posters and banners in streets.Latest to join this bandwagon is Vijayakant.His supporters now print posters addressing him as "Dr.Captain" .This is similar to Karunanidhi aka "Dr.Kalignar".Jayalalitha also has a doctorate and his known as "Dr.Puratchithalaivi".Fortunatley Dr.Ramdoss and his son Dr.Anbumani are doctors by profession.Other wise some other university would have conferred a doctorate for both of them.There are some more doctors in politics like Dr.Stalin,Dr.Tirumavalavan and so on.There are docotors among film personalities also. Amitab Bachan,Kamal Hassan,Mammooty and many more.However there are few politicians who have earned their doctorates for their academic achievements.Dr.Radhakrishnan,Dr.Zakeer Hussain,Dr.Manmohan Singh,Dr.Subramanian Swamy,Dr.Murali Manohar Joshi,and Dr.Karan Singh,are notable amongst them.

It is an accepted practice that universities world over recogonise outstanding persons by honouring them with a doctorate.Years ago it was believed, by honouring an individual with a D. Litt or D Sc (honouris causa), the university honours itself.The university is supposed to honour those who have brought new perspectives, values and thus enhanced humanity. This practice dates back to the middle ages.Even at that time the universities were persuaded to award honorary degrees waiving requirements.The first recorded honorary degree was awarded to Lionel Woodville in the late 1470s by the University of Oxford.He later became Bishop of Salisbury.Later in the 16th century awarding honarary degrees became very common.A visit by a member of the Royal family to the university of Oxford or Cambridge would fetch them an honorary degree.In 1605 when James I visited Oxford, 43 members of his entourage recieved honorary Master of Arts degrees with full voting rights in convocation and university Congregation.Now a days universities nominate several persons each year for honorary degrees.These nominees are screened by a committee before recieviing approval.The present system often becomes political and controversial.Reciepients of honorary doctorates normally do not use the title Dr to their names.There were few exceptions to this, world over.Benjamin Franklin who was awarded an honorary doctorate used to refer him as Dr.Benjamin Franklin thereafter.But in India most of those conferred with an honarary dotorate uses the title so avidly ,especially in Tamilnadu.

The honorary degrees have become controversial because some universities grant honarary degrees in exchange for donations.Similarly awarding of honorary degrees to political figures draws protests.When Mr.Karunanidhi was first honoured with a doctorate at Annamalai University there were protests by the students. When George W. Bush received an honorary degree from Yale University in 2001 students and faculty chose to boycott the university's 300th commencement.In 1985 Oxford University voted against awarding an honarary doctorate to Margaret Thatcher to protest against the cuts she imposed on funding for higher education.In 2007 protesters demanded that the University of Edinburgh revoke an honorary degree awarded to Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe in 1984. The University had to then review its honorary degree policy and strip certain figures of their honorary degrees who did not deserve them.Finaly the university announced that Mugabe had been stripped of his honorary degree. Many foreign universities have a practice of confering a doctorate on those making a commencemnet address at the convocation.Bill gates gave his commencement speech at Havard and got his honarary degree. But Bill gates contribution to the world of business and technology, and the great example he has set through his far-reaching philanthropy,rightfully put him on for an Harvard doctorate.But Barack Obama did not get his honarary degree from Arizona university even after making his commencement address.The reason cited by the university was "His body of work is yet to come,".Cambridge University has given  honorary degrees to Albert Einstein and Nelson Mandela.Cochin University of Science and Technology  gave honorary degree of doctorate to K. G. Balakrishnan, Chairman, National Human Rights Commission.Mr.KGB is facing many charges now.Liverpool John Moores University has given honarary degree to a sexy film star Kim Cattrall.Even Preety Zinda has a doctorate in India.

To my knowledge only two Indian celebrities have refused honarary doctorates.Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam the former President of  India is an eminent scientist and an erudite. But he had once refused an honorary doctorate from an University, stating he is satisfied with the ones he has earned with his hard work and determination. The Chess wizard and world chess champion Vishwananthan anand has refused the doctorate offered by University of Hyderabad.He hails from Tamilnadu, but has made Spain his second home for some years now.But Anand still hold an Indian Passport.But the ministry of external affairs raised some doubts over his nationality.So Anand refused to accept the doctorate from the university.The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India has scuttled a proposal by the Delhi-based Jamia Millia Islamia, a central university, to award an honorary doctorate to the Dalai Lama. The MEA took this decision because India does not wish to worsen its relationship with China.

One hopes ,with the censures echoed by the Madras High court, the universities would henceforth honour only those who devote their lives to research, or use their knowledge and experience to improve the lives of others and the humanity in general.