‘Founders bartered away its soul’: Raghuram Rajan on PB Mehta’s resignation from Ashoka University | India News – Times of India
[ad_1]
Read More/Less
NEW DELHI: Leading economist Raghuram Rajan has termed academicians Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Arvind Subramanium’s resignation from Ashoka University as a “grievous blow to free speech” saying that the founders “bartered away its soul”.
In a social media post on Saturday, Rajan said that Professor Mehta is a “thorn in the side of the establishment” as he “skewers those in government and in high offices like the Supreme Court with vivid prose and thought-provoking arguments”.
Last week Ashoka University, which had quickly made a name for itself as one of India’s premier new-age private educational institutions, found itself at the centre of a furore following the resignation of noted economist Arvind Subramanian and leading political scientist Pratap Bhanu Mehta.
Rajan reacting to the resignation of the academic duo said that if founders of the university feel that their compromises have been made in the greater interest of the university, then they are wrong.
“Free speech is the soul of a great university. By compromising on it, the founders have bartered away its soul. And if you show a willingness to barter your soul, is there any chance the pressures will go away?,” wrote Rajan in a Linkedin post.
In a social media post on Saturday, Rajan said that Professor Mehta is a “thorn in the side of the establishment” as he “skewers those in government and in high offices like the Supreme Court with vivid prose and thought-provoking arguments”.
Last week Ashoka University, which had quickly made a name for itself as one of India’s premier new-age private educational institutions, found itself at the centre of a furore following the resignation of noted economist Arvind Subramanian and leading political scientist Pratap Bhanu Mehta.
Rajan reacting to the resignation of the academic duo said that if founders of the university feel that their compromises have been made in the greater interest of the university, then they are wrong.
“Free speech is the soul of a great university. By compromising on it, the founders have bartered away its soul. And if you show a willingness to barter your soul, is there any chance the pressures will go away?,” wrote Rajan in a Linkedin post.
“As a true academic, he (Mehta) is an equal opportunity critic. He is, and I hope will continue to be, one of the intellectual leaders of liberalism in India,” said Rajan.
The former RBI governor said that professor Mehta’s resignation was so sudden that in his resignation letter, he had to plead with the university to make arrangements for his driver, who would be left jobless.
[ad_2]