Have discussed walking away from Ashoka: Co-founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani in reply to alumnus on Mahmudabad row
New Delhi:
Weeks after one of its professors, Ali Khan Mahmudabad, was arrested over a social media post he wrote on Operation Sindoor and the university was criticised for not taking a stand amid a raging argument over free speech, Ashoka trustee and co-founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani made his views clear in an emailed reply to a former student.
Activism is not embedded to a liberal arts university, a political post on social media is not academic scholarship, and the founders have considered walking away, he asserted in the email.
"Why don't you and other alumni offer to step in and take over?" Bikhchandani wrote in the email that was shared on an internal mailing list. "Pramath, Ashish and I have seriously discussed the option of walking away. Ashoka is too much of a headache...
money, even in this day and age, does not grow on trees but it still makes the world go around," he added, referring to fellow trustee Pramath Raj Sinha and founding chairperson Ashish Dhawan.
Dwelling at length on activism, he wrote, "Activism and a Liberal Arts University are not joined at the hip. Ashoka is a Liberal Arts and Sciences University. Whether to be activists or not is a conscious choice people make. In the past I have questioned the activism at Ashoka — each time, I have been pounced upon by the activists and their supporters, both within and outside Ashoka: students, faculty, activists, etc.
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, saying that 'if you are running a liberal arts university, then activism goes with the territory', that 'I am an arrogant owner', that 'dirty filthy capitalists don't understand how a university runs' (they somehow forget that the same capitalists are paying their salaries)."
"You can be a great liberal arts university and not be activist. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar," he added. "As an institution, Ashoka cannot take an activist position.
It (Ashoka) is governed by the law of the land… It is answerable to regulators and to government authorities. It is not a political party or movement — it is an educational institution."
Addressing the row over Mahmudabad's post and his arrest without taking names, Bikhchandani wrote, "A political opinion expressed on Facebook or Twitter (X) or Instagram is not academic scholarship. Consequently, any public outcry about a political opinion an academic may express on social media is not an attack on academic freedom...
If a regulator or the government or law enforcement goes after you for a social media post, it is not an infringement of academic freedom.
It might be an infringement of freedom of speech; however, there are provisions within the Constitution and the law where you can find protection. You are a grown-up adult. You are responsible for your actions and any consequences thereof. Ashoka is not obliged to support you for political opinions...
You did not seek Ashoka's consent before posting on social media, you cannot now present Ashoka with a fait accompli and expect support."
"Appropriate timing of what to say, where, when and to whom and how is a sign of intelligence (beyond academic scholarship)," he added. "If you end up offending a whole bunch of people, even though you were not technically incorrect in what you said, then an expression of regret and an apology is a sign of good grace and decency.
Hijacking an institutional platform to make it subordinate to your political agenda is an act of institutional capture and selfishness.
Expecting the institution to then support you is an act of entitlement and arrogance."
In making these points, Bikhchandani identified a "policy issue" for Ashoka's governing body to think over. "Can a full-time academic also pursue a political career? In the private sector, we generally stay away from what are termed as 'politically exposed persons'. Should Ashoka have such a policy?"
Mahmudabad, incidentally, has been associated with Samajwadi Party, though he has been inactive in recent years.
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