Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Thursday withdrew his candidature for a second term as Chancellor of Nalanda University in Bihar, since the Narendra Modi government had not given its approval to his nomination.

“It is hard for me not to conclude that the government wants me to cease being the Chancellor of Nalanda University after this July,” Dr. Sen said.

In a letter to members of the Governing Board, he said there was a unanimous resolution in January that he should have another term, but the President as Visitor was not able to give his assent to it.

Dr. Sen said academic governance in the country remained “deeply vulnerable to the opinions of the ruling government,” where it chose to make political use of special provisions in a university’s statute.

Declaring his decision not to be considered any longer for another term as Chancellor of Nalanda University in Bihar, Professor Sen said even though the Act governing the institution did not envisage political interference in academic matters, given the legal provisions, the government could turn an academic issue into a “matter of political dispensation.”

“As a proud and concerned citizen of India, I take this particular occasion to communicate my general disquiet in public, which is why I am openly sharing this letter,” he said in a communication to fellow members on the university’s Governing Board.
(The Hindu)