Mumbai varsity suspends whistle-blowing professor

An economics professor at Mumbai University, who openly criticised the varsity’s vice-chancellor, has been suspended ostensibly for talking to the media.

Postgraduate students on Mumbai University’s Kalina campus are readying themselves for a protracted agitation against the suspension of Professor of Econometrics Neeraj Hatekar, considered one of the best academics on the campus.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, postgraduate student from the department of sociology, Prashant Singh, said: “The student community is angry over this totalitarian atmosphere. From tomorrow (Monday), under the aegis of the University Community for Democracy and Equality, we will be go to each department as well as colleges to explain to students what happened, and then we will picket and organise sit-ins and even intensify agitation by going on hunger strike.”

The 156-year-old Mumbai University, once known for critical and free thinking, for the past several years has been hogging headlines for all the wrong reasons, including continual mishandling of exams.