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More than 500 academics and intellectuals from across the world have written to foreign ministers of eight member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and to its Secretary-General, over the recent suspension of four faculty members at the SAARC-administered South Asian University (SAU).
The letter has been signed by scholars like Zoya Hasan, professor emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Nandita Narain, associate professor, St Stephen’s College, Delhi University; Paula Chakravartty, vice-president, New York University chapter of American Association of University Professors, among other eminent scholars.
They have urged the ministers to “intervene in this regard and call upon the SAU administration to immediately revoke the unfair and arbitrary suspension orders and establish congenial academic environment in the university”.
On June 16, the faculty members were suspended by SAU for alleged ‘misconduct’, but the nature of the same has not been spelt out in the suspension orders. This action follows months of student protests last year against the reduction of monthly stipends for Master’s students.
The letter stated that “the administration called in police to disperse students exercising their democratic right to protest. The suspended professors had registered their concerns about calling police to the campus to intervene against students and regarding the retributive measures taken by the administrators against the protesting students. The professors were urging the university to take a constructive approach to addressing the students’ concerns and resolving conflicts”.
The letter signed by the scholars stated: “They (the professors) were served show-cause notices on December 30, 2022 for writing emails to the university community question(ing) the compassionless manner in which the SAU administration dealt with the students who were (a) protesting a decrease in their monthly stipend last year and (b) asking for fair representation in sexual harassment and gender sensitisation committees.”
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