Professor departs South Asian University after Modi criticism row

The departure of a sociology professor from a university in India established by eight South Asian nations has been seen as the latest sign of trouble at the controversy-mired institution.

Sasanka Perera, a Sri Lankan professor who has worked at South Asian University (SAU) for 12 years, left the institution after one of the PhD students he was supervising received a “show-cause notice” from university management.

As part of their doctoral work, the student, who has not been identified, was researching Kashmir, the contested region on the India-Pakistan border. The student was asked about the inclusion in their work of a quote from Noam Chomsky, in which the American intellectual criticised India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi.

The university then launched a disciplinary inquiry against Professor Perera, the student’s supervisor and a former vice-president of the institution, who subsequently departed in July.

Nandini Sundar, a sociology professor at the University of Delhi, said academic freedom had been “deteriorating for a while” at the university.

“Once a faculty has cleared a proposal, it should not be open to academics from other disciplines [or] administration to interfere. This is a major attack on academic autonomy,” she said.

“All universities, public or private, are under pressure to rein in critics of the government,” said Pratap Bhanu Mehta, an Indian political scientist whose resignation from Ashoka University in 2021 was linked to his public criticisms of Mr Modi.

“Often government does not have to give directions – many faculty and administrators are all too happy to ingratiate themselves with government.”

Since Professor Perera’s departure, a student has reportedly also been asked to leave university accommodation after discussing the event. Yashada Sawant told The Times of India that she had been ordered to vacate her room as a consequence of “instigating students against the university” by virtue of expressing her concerns about the future of her sociology classes with her peers on WhatsApp.

The latest incident follows the suspension of two academics last year who were accused of supporting PhD students who were holding protests to demand stipend increases. At least two of the students involved were expelled.

The academics and students attempted to challenge the university in court, but the university’s unique model meant that this was a complex case, leading to two different, seemingly contradictory judgments.

While it is based in Delhi, South Asian University was jointly established in 2010 by the eight nations that make up the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, with all members meant to contribute to its funding.

In January, ruling against the academics, Delhi’s High Court declared that the university was an international organisation out of the government’s control, and that privileges granted to it by India’s Ministry of External Affairs meant that it was exempt from legal suits in Indian courts.

In the same month, the court overturned the expulsion of the PhD students in question, in this case ruling that the university was not outside the constitution when it comes to education.

Discussing the two rulings, a judge argued that the academics were “involved in a service dispute”, whereas the cases involving students were focused on “the right to education, which emanates from the public function that the SAU performs”.

The academics are set to appeal against the decision in a higher court.

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com