'Lapses will be rectified': Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Ashoka university board issue joint statement

The Ashoka University board and professors Arvind Subramanian, Pratap Bhanu Mehta issued a joint statement on Sunday, speaking up for the first time about the recent developments in the varsity, and said that the board recognises that there are lapses in institutional processes which will be rectified.

Breaking their silence after a week, the board which includes the chancellor, vice-chancellor and the chairman of the board of trustees of the varsity said they express "deep regret at the recent events surrounding the resignations of Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Arvind Subramanian who have been extraordinary colleagues and faculty members at Ashoka University."

"The University has been privileged to have been led, guided and counselled by Pratap first as Vice Chancellor and then as senior faculty. He has worked closely with the faculty and founders over the years to take the University into a position of being rightly acknowledged as a great centre of learning, teaching and research," the statement read.

On Subramanian's exit, the statement read, "Arvind brought eminence, stature, fresh ideas and energy to the University. He is one of the premier thinkers about the Indian and the global economy. He leaves a void that will be hard to fill."

News of Mehta’s exit broke on Thursday — he resigned on March 15 — and caused a stir among students and faculty of the university, and the academic community across India and overseas. “After a meeting with Founders it has become abundantly clear to me that my association with the University may be considered a political liability. My public writing in support of a politic that tries to honour constitutional values of freedom and equal respect for all citizens is perceived to carry risks for the university. In the interests of the University, I resign,” he said in his resignation letter.

Faculty members also wrote to V-C Malabika Sarkar saying that Mehta’s exit would set a “chilling precedent”. Sheldon Pollock, a Sanskrit scholar who is closely associated with Ashoka University, also issued a statement on Thursday expressing his solidarity with Mehta.

On Friday morning, his colleague and former chief economic adviser Subramanian resigned saying he was “devastated” by Mehta’s resignation, and it reflected the university’s inability to protect “academic freedom and expression”.

The students’ body at Ashoka University on Saturday announced a “two-day boycott of classes” next week to protest the resignation of two professors, even as more academics -- including former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan -- weighed in and expressed their support for Mehta and his departure on fears that he could be a “political liability” for the university on account of his strong political views.