Government wants me to cease being Chancellor of Nalanda: Amartya Sen

New Delhi Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has withdrawn his candidature for a second term as Nalanda University Chancellor saying the Narendra Modi government does not want him to continue in the chairSen who has long been a critic of Modi in a letter to the Governing Board of the University blamed the absence of governments approval for delay in nod from the Visitor President Pranab Mukherjee to his name even though the recommendation was sent to him over a month backNobel laureate Amartya Sen File picNonaction by government is a timewasting way of reversing a board decision when the government has in principle the power to act or not actIt is hard for me not to conclude that the government wants me to cease being the chancellor of Nalanda University after July and technically it has the power to do soThis delay as well as the uncertainty involved is leading in effect to a decisional gap which is not helpful to Nalanda Universitys governance and its academic progress I have therefore decided that in the best interest of Nalanda University I should exclude myself from being considered for continuing as chancellor beyond this July despite the unanimous recommendation and urging of the governing board for me to continue he has writtenIt is clear that Mukherjee has been unable to provide his assent to the Boards unanimous choice in the absence of governments approval he said The Visitor has always taken a deep personal interest in the speedy progress of the work of Nalanda University and given that they have to assume that something makes it difficult or impossible for him to act with speed in this matter he saidThe Board had made the recommendation in its last meeting on January 1314 The Bharat Ratna also rued that academic governance inIndia remains so deeply vulnerable to the opinions of the ruling governmentEven though the Nalanda University Act passed by Parliament did not I believe envisage political interference in academic matters it is formally the case given the legal provisions some of them surviving from colonial days that the government can turn an academic issue into a matter of political dispensation if it feels unrestrained about interfering he saidSen also cited more instances of the governments interference in the universitys functioning There was considerable disquiet among Board members about the governments evident unwillingness to appreciate the international character of Nalanda University and to pay appropriate attention to its multicountry governing boardIn particular the governing board was kept completely in the dark about an attempted unilateral move by the government to rapidly reconstitute the entire board and to do this in violation of some parts of the Nalanda University Act reflected especially in the letters that have already been sent out to foreign governments departing from the provisions of the Act as it now stands Sen wroteSen said he wrote the letter with a heavy heart since reestablishing the institution a famous centre of scholarship in ancient times has been a lifelong commitment for himSen has had an uneasy relationship with the ruling BJP more so after he came out against Modis prime ministerial credentials during the run up to Lok Sabha election