Ashoka row: Professors demand Sabyasachi Das’ reinstatement, threaten additional resignations

By PTI

NEW DELHI: Days after Sabyasachi Das, a professor at Ashoka University, resigned following an issue over his analysis paper alleging electoral manipulation within the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, his division’s school members have written to the Governing Body saying they will not train until Das is obtainable reinstatement.

The college had earlier distanced itself from the paper, Democratic Backsliding within the World’s Largest Democracy, through which Das argued that the BJP received a disproportionate share of carefully contested parliamentary seats in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, particularly in states the place it was the ruling celebration on the time.

The analysis was revealed on the Social Science Research Network on July 25.

Das had claimed that the alleged electoral manipulation by the BJP additionally appeared to have taken the type of focused electoral discrimination towards Muslims, “partly facilitated by weak monitoring by election observers”.

The school members of the Economic Department have now written an open letter, warning the Governing Body’s “interference” within the course of to “investigate the merits” of his examine was more likely to “precipitate an exodus of faculty”.

The departments of English and Creative Writing, in a joint assertion, too demanded that Das be reinstated.

The improvement comes on a day when Pulapre Balakrishnan, who had earlier taught on the Oxford University amongst different establishments, turned the second professor from the economics division to place in his papers.

The professors additionally acknowledged that they’d not be capable of perform their instructing obligations “until questions relating to primary educational freedoms are resolved earlier than the Monsoon 2023 semester”.

The BJP received the 2019 parliamentary elections in India: however was it ALL truthful and sq.?

This astonishing new working paper by @sabya_economist supplies scientific proof that implies vote(r) manipulation by BJP.

And no, that is NOT about EVMs.https://t.co/H99CGJPhTV
Thread pic.twitter.com/YU1idLcqXw

— M.R. Sharan (@sharanidli) July 31, 2023

“The offer of resignation by our colleague Professor Sabyasachi Das and its hasty acceptance by the University has deeply ruptured the faith that we in the faculty of the department of Economics, our colleagues, our students, and well-wishers of Ashoka University everywhere, had reposed in the university’s leadership,” the letter mentioned.

“We urge the governing body to address this immediately, but no later than August 23, 2023. Failure to do so will systematically wreck the largest academic department at Ashoka and the very viability of the Ashoka vision,” it added.

Demanding that the governing physique unconditionally reoffer Sabyasachi his place and likewise affirm that it’ll play no function in evaluating school analysis, the letter mentioned, “Unless these questions regarding basic academic freedoms are resolved before the start of the Monsoon 2023 semester, faculty members of the department will find themselves unable to carry forward their teaching obligations in the spirit of critical enquiry and the fearless pursuit of truth that characterise our classrooms”.

After Das’ analysis paper got here beneath criticism, the University distanced itself and had acknowledged that social media exercise or public activism by Ashoka school, college students or workers of their “particular person capability” doesn’t replicate its stand.

Das later resigned and the college had accepted his resignation.

According to Das’ paper, the “disproportionate” wins have been by no means noticed in previous elections by BJP or Congress, and likewise that they have been primarily seen in states dominated by BJP at the moment.

His paper cites that the explanations for this may very well be that both the BJP dedicated electoral fraud or it was capable of precisely predict carefully contested seats and mobilise celebration employees to marketing campaign extra intensively.

The open letter by professors mentioned, “Das didn’t violate any accepted norm of educational observe. Academic analysis is professionally evaluated by way of a technique of peer assessment. The Governing Body’s interference on this course of to research the deserves of his current examine constitutes institutional harassment, curtails educational freedom, and forces students to function in an surroundings of concern.

“We condemn this in the strongest terms and refuse as a collective to cooperate in any future attempt to evaluate the research of individual economics faculty members by the Governing Body,” it added.

The letter alleged that the actions of the Governing Body pose an existential risk to the division and is more likely to precipitate an exodus of school and forestall the college from attracting new school.

The Governing Body contains Ashoka University Chancellor Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Vice Chancellor Somak Raychaudhury, Madhu Chandak, Puneet Dalmia, Ashish Dhawan, Pramath Raj Sinha, Siddharth Yog, Deep Kalra and Ziaa Lalka.

(With inputs from Online Desk, Express News Service.)

NEW DELHI: Days after Sabyasachi Das, a professor at Ashoka University, resigned following an issue over his analysis paper alleging electoral manipulation within the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, his division’s school members have written to the Governing Body saying they will not train until Das is obtainable reinstatement.

The college had earlier distanced itself from the paper, Democratic Backsliding within the World’s Largest Democracy, through which Das argued that the BJP received a disproportionate share of carefully contested parliamentary seats in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, particularly in states the place it was the ruling celebration on the time.

The analysis was revealed on the Social Science Research Network on July 25.googletag.cmd.push(perform() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2′); );

Das had claimed that the alleged electoral manipulation by the BJP additionally appeared to have taken the type of focused electoral discrimination towards Muslims, “partly facilitated by weak monitoring by election observers”.

The school members of the Economic Department have now written an open letter, warning the Governing Body’s “interference” within the course of to “investigate the merits” of his examine was more likely to “precipitate an exodus of faculty”.

The departments of English and Creative Writing, in a joint assertion, too demanded that Das be reinstated.

The improvement comes on a day when Pulapre Balakrishnan, who had earlier taught on the Oxford University amongst different establishments, turned the second professor from the economics division to place in his papers.

The professors additionally acknowledged that they’d not be capable of perform their instructing obligations “until questions relating to primary educational freedoms are resolved earlier than the Monsoon 2023 semester”.

The BJP received the 2019 parliamentary elections in India: however was it ALL truthful and sq.?
This astonishing new working paper by @sabya_economist supplies scientific proof that implies vote(r) manipulation by BJP.
And no, that is NOT about EVMs.https://t.co/H99CGJPhTV
Thread pic.twitter.com/YU1idLcqXw
— M.R. Sharan (@sharanidli) July 31, 2023
“The offer of resignation by our colleague Professor Sabyasachi Das and its hasty acceptance by the University has deeply ruptured the faith that we in the faculty of the department of Economics, our colleagues, our students, and well-wishers of Ashoka University everywhere, had reposed in the university’s leadership,” the letter mentioned.

“We urge the governing body to address this immediately, but no later than August 23, 2023. Failure to do so will systematically wreck the largest academic department at Ashoka and the very viability of the Ashoka vision,” it added.

Demanding that the governing physique unconditionally reoffer Sabyasachi his place and likewise affirm that it’ll play no function in evaluating school analysis, the letter mentioned, “Unless these questions regarding basic academic freedoms are resolved before the start of the Monsoon 2023 semester, faculty members of the department will find themselves unable to carry forward their teaching obligations in the spirit of critical enquiry and the fearless pursuit of truth that characterise our classrooms”.

After Das’ analysis paper got here beneath criticism, the University distanced itself and had acknowledged that social media exercise or public activism by Ashoka school, college students or workers of their “particular person capability” doesn’t replicate its stand.

Das later resigned and the college had accepted his resignation.

According to Das’ paper, the “disproportionate” wins have been by no means noticed in previous elections by BJP or Congress, and likewise that they have been primarily seen in states dominated by BJP at the moment.

His paper cites that the explanations for this may very well be that both the BJP dedicated electoral fraud or it was capable of precisely predict carefully contested seats and mobilise celebration employees to marketing campaign extra intensively.

The open letter by professors mentioned, “Das didn’t violate any accepted norm of educational observe. Academic analysis is professionally evaluated by way of a technique of peer assessment. The Governing Body’s interference on this course of to research the deserves of his current examine constitutes institutional harassment, curtails educational freedom, and forces students to function in an surroundings of concern.

“We condemn this in the strongest terms and refuse as a collective to cooperate in any future attempt to evaluate the research of individual economics faculty members by the Governing Body,” it added.

The letter alleged that the actions of the Governing Body pose an existential risk to the division and is more likely to precipitate an exodus of school and forestall the college from attracting new school.

The Governing Body contains Ashoka University Chancellor Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Vice Chancellor Somak Raychaudhury, Madhu Chandak, Puneet Dalmia, Ashish Dhawan, Pramath Raj Sinha, Siddharth Yog, Deep Kalra and Ziaa Lalka.

(With inputs from Online Desk, Express News Service.)