India’s foremost educationist Amartya Sen has decided to quit his position as Chancellor of Nalanda University at the commencement of his second term. The governing body of the University had unanimously voted for his resumption of office over a month ago. But the Ministry of External Affairs and the Prime Minister’s office have kept unaccountably quiet over it so far. Amartya Sen has taken it as an official decision not to let him continue. Sen has been a critic of the Modi government on issues where he thought it had erred. He did not support the NDA’s development models and the BJP’s treatment of the minorities-reconversion and the attack on Christian churches in Delhi. Modi’s apology came too late. There can be no academic reason to discontinue Sen’s term of office as the entire academic world globally will agree. The reason can only be political. Nalanda University was set up under the aegis of the East Asia Summit with resources of the member states. The governing body comprises representatives from Singapore, China, Japan and Thailand. Modi has been focusing on the eastern countries as a foreign policy priority. Hence the government’s handling of the issue seems very strange. The administrative mess in the University is to be cleared up by the Central government. And the administrative lapses in the University cannot be blamed on the only Nobel Laureate that the country has. Sen has also indicated that the statutes passed under the Nalanda University Act had been ignored. The government evidently has taken a unilateral move to reconstitute the governing board.
Amartya Sen has raised a vital issue. Academic governance in India is sadly vulnerable to the opinions of the ruling government which provides funds and uses its clout to stifle the free functioning of academic minds. The groves of academe all over the world fight for freedom from political or financial pressure. The Chancellor of Nalanda University deserves an answer from people like Sushma Swaraj and Smriti Irani.