Rajendran Narayanan: What I learnt about power and privilege when I quit Ashoka in 2016 / Yogendra Yadav: No one is asking the right questions about Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s ouster from Ashoka University
NB: Democratic rights are not presented to us on a platter by managements, howsoever liberal they portray themselves to be. Professor Rajendran Narayanan's experience is evidence of that; as well as of the truism that our access to the justice and fair-play is directly linked to our socio-economic status. That is why workers, and even teachers need to combine and why the right to form trade-unions are an essential part of a democracy. The treatment meted out to Professor Mehta could and should have been met by firm resistance, but in the absence of a functioning teachers association; and of a tradition of active non-violent campaigning, this did not happen. We need to relearn the forgotten practice of satyagraha. And unless we start now, Indian democracy is doomed. Not just Ashoka University. DS
Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s resignation from Ashoka University has
been met with widespread condemnation from various academics. Rightly so. He is
one of the foremost scholars and an articulate commentator on the Indian
Constitution and politics. His resignation triggered the resignation of the
renowned economist, Arvind Subramanain, who was India’s Chief Economic Advisor
between 2014 and 2018. Both are eminent international figures.
Soon after Mehta’s resignation, the faculty members of
Ashoka University released a public statement in solidarity with him. The faculty
members expressed grave concern that the university may have acceded to
government pressure in taking such a step and alluded to “academic freedom on
which Ashoka University has been set up”. In particular, the letter noted, “It
would also set a chilling precedent for future removals of faculty, curtailing
our sense of who we are as researchers and teachers.” The letter further urged
the university administration to rescind Mehta’s resignation.
Ashoka University: Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s letter and my comment - DS
Democracy and workers' movements - stories from Jamshedpur
Such a statement of public solidarity by the Ashoka faculty is welcome. However, the “chilling precedent” had been set as early as 2016 with three resignations, including mine, which had been covered in many media outlets. Mehta joined Ashoka University as its Vice Chancellor after these incidents. I resigned from Ashoka University on December 14, 2016. News reports of my resignation carried different versions of the same event. While the Ashoka administration indicated that there was no proposal to dismiss me, I had said that there was one. This Rashomon Effect came to an end when the Indian Express presented evidence corroborating my version of the story….
The statements by the faculty and
the student
body at Ashoka showed more courage than you would expect in a private
university. Add to that statements by academics based abroad and a few
editorials, and that’s all we have by way of response to this defining moment
in the shrinking academic space in India. The contrast with the
nation-wide reaction to attempts to silence lawyer Prashant Bhushan tells a
story. It is hard to avoid the impression that envy may have diluted
our moral sensibility. Apparently, a famous academic, an elite private
university and its rich patrons do not stir our public conscience.
Even more disappointing is the nature of our response. It is
a sign of the times we live in that we ask every question except the one that
needs to be asked. We ask tough and valid questions of the Ashoka University founders
and trustees, but with an emphasis that seems misplaced. We ask questions about
the elite nature of
Ashoka University, its faculty and students, without appreciating that these
are beside the point in this instance. This occasion has been used by some
to take potshots at Pratap Mehta as a public intellectual.
All these leave us with little energy to pose a question to those who
orchestrated it all, those who arm-twisted the university, those who cannot
take any expression of dissent. The one-who-cannot-be-named remains untouched….
Ashoka University: Correspondence on Professor P. B.
Mehta's Resignation
Mitali Saran - Standing your ground: A toolkit
STATEMENT BY ASHOKA UNIVERSITY FACULTY - March 18, 2021
Founders made clear I was political liability for
Ashoka University: Pratap Bhanu Mehta
Democracy and workers' movements - stories from Jamshedpur
Uki Goñi - A grandmother's
36-year hunt for the child stolen by the Argentinian junta
