We Can't Treat Pratap Bhanu Mehta's Resignation from Ashoka as a 'Personal Decision'// Arvind Subramanian resigns from Ashoka University in protest
NB: Ideology is a form of silence; the enforcement of ideology is the enforcement of silence. DS Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s resignation from the Ashoka University must not be treated as a decision taken for personal reasons. It should be a matter of public concern, even though he was teaching at a private university. We need not explain why. Mehta’s resignation shows the extent to which this regime will go to penalise its critics. How independent voices will be pushed out of collective spaces, into loneliness. We will be told that he has not given any reason for his resignation and there is nothing to suggest that there is political pressure behind it. But only naive people will accept this argument.
It is definitely one more piece of evidence about the
vindictive nature of this regime. But more than that, it is about the cowardice
of some of the most powerful people of this country. Those who have amassed
fortunes in a very short span of time and have claimed they are ‘giving back to
society’ by setting up educational institutions.
From olden times, ‘fortunate’ people have tried to earn
glory for themselves by constructing temples, digging wells or setting up
schools and educational institutions. They see these institutions as their
legacy. In the modern age too, affluent people have taken this route. In India,
we have numerous examples of this across the country. There was a complaint in
the last decades of the 20th century that not enough was done by the country’s
rich in the field of education. And then came a wave of institutions like
Ashoka University. Their promoters emphasised that they were not interested in
making money. They proudly claimed that their universities would not have
so-called professional courses. They were there to promote the liberal arts. As
the Indian
Express put it while reporting the resignation, “Ashoka,
established through collective philanthropy, advertises itself as a world-class
“pioneering liberal initiative” that encourages students “to think and to
question.””
The promoters of Ashoka University seem to believe that they
have earned the right to promote the cultivation of young minds by virtue of
the money that they have…
https://thewire.in/rights/pratap-bhanu-mehta-resignation-ashoka-university
Arvind Subramanian resigns from Ashoka University after Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s exit
Economist Arvind Subramanian has resigned as a professor from
the Ashoka University, saying that the exit of political scientist and
commentator Pratap
Bhanu Mehta has “devastated” him, The Indian Express reported
on Thursday. Subramanian, the former chief economic adviser, said it was
“ominously disturbing” that despite being a private university it can no longer
protect or give space to academic freedom and expression.
This comes two days after Mehta stepped down from his position. While the reasons for his resignation are not yet known, Mehta has been a vocal critic of the Narendra Modi government. With Mehta’s exit, Subramanian wrote, that the university’s “commitment to fight for and sustain the Ashoka vision is now open to question”. He added that such circumstances make it difficult for him to continue being part of the faculty.
Subramanian had joined Ashoka University in July last year
as as a professor of economics. He is also the founding director of
Ashoka Center for Economic Policy… read his
letter
