Following the resignation of assistant professor Sabyasachi Das, who wrote a paper on electoral manipulation in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the departments of Economics, English and Creative Writing at Ashoka University on Wednesday announced that they will boycott classes until the faculty is reinstated.
Das submitted his resignation earlier this week and Vice-Chancellor Somak Raychaudhury on Monday said that the university had accepted it.
On 16 August, the Economics Department of Ashoka University sent out an open letter to the Governing Body of the university observing that the acceptance of Das’ resignation by the University has “deeply ruptured the faith that… the faculty of the department… colleagues, students, and well-wishers of Ashoka University everywhere, had reposed in the University’s leadership.”
Das has not yet made a public comment on the resignation.
The Department alleges that the Governing Body’s “interference in [the peer review] process to investigate the merits of [Das’] recent study” amounts to “institutional harassment, curtails academic freedom, and forces scholars to operate in an environment of fear.”
The letter firmly opposes the involvement of the Governing Body in evaluating the research of any individual faculty members. The debate surrounding academic freedom in the private university has also prompted an open letter by alumni to the founders and faculty members of the University.
In the research paper titled “Democratic Backsliding in the World’s Largest Democracy”, Das argued that the BJP won a disproportionate share of closely contested parliamentary seats in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, especially in states where it was the ruling party at the time.
The research was published on the Social Science Research Network on July 25, drawing heat from the leaders and cadres of the BJP.
