‘Ashoka is boring – thank god’: Co-founder’s post about protests contradicts university’s own vision
Kalpana Kannariban | 16 September 2023 | The Scroll
Since early August, Ashoka University in Haryana’s Sonipat has been at the centre of a heated debate over academic freedom. The university drew criticism after it issued a statement on August 1 distancing itself from the research paper published by Sabyasachi Das, an assistant professor of economics at the institution.
Das’s paper, published in July, had claimed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party may have manipulated the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to sweep back to power. Das resigned from Ashoka University in mid-August. Academics and commentators criticised the university for not standing by him. Das’s resignation sparked a discussion on whether private universities can nurture a radical, percipient intelligentsia.