New Delhi: The citation of American linguist Noam Chomsky’s criticism of the Narendra Modi government in a doctoral research proposal has resulted in a show-cause notice for the PhD scholar and a disciplinary inquiry against his supervisor at the South Asian University (SAU), the Indian Express has reported.
In a report published on Saturday, the newspaper said that a doctoral scholar had last November submitted a proposal on Kashmir’s ethnography and politics, which was approved by his supervisor before being sent to the university’s dean of social sciences.
But the Express reported that on May 9, a show-cause notice was sent to the student.
In the notice, the scholar was asked to explain the citation of the private YouTube video he uploaded in his research proposal.
The video was a personal recording of an interview the student did with Noam Chomsky, in which the well-known intellectual reportedly said that Modi “comes from a “radical Hindutva tradition”, and is attempting to “dismantle Indian secular democracy” and “impose Hindu technocracy”, according to the newspaper.
The notice also demanded an explanation from the PhD candidate and his supervisor, Sasanka Perera, regarding their choice of research topic.
As per the Express, a response was submitted on May 15, including an apology, after which the video was removed.
Meanwhile, the university formed an inquiry committee to investigate the supervisor’s role and the motivations behind the research proposal.
After the disciplinary committee was established, Perera, who is a founding member of the South Asian University’s sociology department, resigned.
In response to queries, the SAU told the newspaper that an inquiry had been instituted, but claimed that “no PhD proposal led to the resignation of a professor”.
Before joining the SAU, Perera had been with the sociology department at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka for twenty years. At the SAU, he held the posts of chairman of the sociology department, dean of the faculty of social sciences and vice president.
There are concerns that academic freedom has diminished in India in recent years under the Modi government.
The Freedom House political advocacy NGO, which publishes an annual index of the degree of political freedom in the countries of the world, said in its 2024 report for India that “academic freedom has significantly weakened in recent years, as professors, students, and institutions have faced intimidation over political and religious issues”.
The SAU was also in the news in June 2023 when it suspended four faculty members for supporting students who had protested against reduced stipends and a lack of adequate representation.
