Ashoka University row: faculty demands reinstatement of economics professor, writes letter about academic freedom
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Sonipat: Amid the growing academic freedom dispute at Ashoka University, the Department of Economics has issued an open letter to the university's governing body, urging the unconditional reinstatement of Sabyasachi Das, Assistant Professor of Economics.
The development follows Sabyasachi's departure from the institution due to the contentious nature of his research paper, which suggested the possibility of electoral fraud by the BJP in the 2019 general elections.
In the letter, the economics department faculty demanded Sabyasachi's unconditional reappointment and also called for an affirmation that the university will not interfere in evaluating faculty research. The letter conveyed concerns about the erosion of academic freedom and the impartial pursuit of knowledge, essential to the university's mission.
It stated, "Unless these questions regarding basic academic freedoms are resolved before the start of the Monsoon 2023 semester, faculty members of the department will find themselves unable to carry forward their teaching obligations in the spirit of critical enquiry and the fearless pursuit of truth that characterise our classrooms," reported The News Minute.
Earlier, Ashoka University had distanced itself from Sabyasachi's paper, triggering criticism.
The university clarified that the paper had not completed a critical review process and had not been published in an academic journal. The faculty's individual opinions, the university emphasised, did not represent the institution's stance.
The economics department's open letter criticised the acceptance of Sabyasachi's resignation as having ruptured trust between faculty, students, and the university's leadership. It condemned the university's intervention in investigating the merits of Sabyasachi's research, labelling it as institutional harassment that compromises academic freedom and instils fear in scholars.
The letter denounced the university's potential future attempts to evaluate faculty research by the governing body, refusing to cooperate in such endeavours. The faculty expressed concern that these actions might lead to an exodus of faculty members, undermining the reputation and growth of the economics department.
In his research paper, Sabyasachi's analysis of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections proposed that the BJP secured an unusually high number of seats in closely contested constituencies. He suggested that this could indicate electoral fraud or an exceptional ability to predict closely contested seats and mobilise campaign efforts.
The paper also pointed out discrepancies between the number of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) votes counted and the final count reported by the Election Commission of India (ECI), especially in closely contested constituencies. Sabyasachi emphasised that his tests did not conclusively prove fraud, but rather signalled the need for comprehensive investigations to substantiate such claims.