Gujarat Governor takes over as varsity chancellor amidst controversy

“Those who want to bring change in this country…are either poisoned or killed,” said Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat on Friday. Devvrat was addressing a gathering of teachers and students at Gujarat Vidyapith after taking over as its chancellor.

“Those who want to bring change in this country and the society are either poisoned or killed like Swami Dayanand Saraswati and Mahatma Gandhi. History is a witness to the lives of such great men,” he said at a function organised to felicitate his new position at the deemed university.

He added: “When the world doesn’t want to change, it goes against them and after they are dead, their statues are built and worshiped. This is a history that has been going on since ages."

The governor thanked the varsity’s trustees for selecting him as the chancellor and said, “Today, I consider myself fortunate to be chosen as the chancellor of an organisation which was established by Mahatma Gandhi himself, who also was its chancellor. And, after him Gandhian thinkers like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Shri Morarji Desai, Shri Narayan Desai ji and Elaben Bhatt served as its chancellors.”

He told the gathering that just like Gandhi, he too believed in “naturopathy, cow-rearing and swadeshi”.

He said that he started wearing Khadi clothes when he was in Class 5 after being influenced by a Gandhi Ashram close to his ancestral village in Haryana.

Devvrat also mentioned his days at Gurukul in Kurukshetra, where “the children wore khadi, sang bhajan, did yoga and learnt Indian philosophy”.

“Even at the Gurukul, there was no space for untouchability. Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Dayanand Saraswati also said the same thing. But one was poisoned and the other was killed,” the newly appointed chancellor said.

Devvrat officially took over as chancellor from Ela Bhatt, the 90-year-old activist and founder of Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) who stepped down citing her advanced age.

The governor’s appointment comes amid controversy over the resignation of eight trustees of the Mahatma Gandhi-founded varsity, who alleged that the appointment was made due to “political pressure”.

On October 17, eight trustees resigned from the varsity’s trust, and wrote to Devvrat in a joint letter, requesting him not to accept the chancellorship. The letter had claimed that his selection was “neither spontaneous nor the unanimous decision of the Board of Trustees”.

“It was under crass political pressure. It was in total disregard of Gandhi’s values, methods and practices. How can that do credit to your honour and dignity? Your Excellency, to uphold the fundamental values of democracy and transparent autonomous decision-making you have the opportunity to set an example by declining to take charge as Chancellor,” the letter read.

The varsity has also been in news due to its run-ins with University Grants Commission (UGC) which had ordered that its current vice-chancellor (V-C), Rajendra Khimani, be removed. The UGC had cited financial irregularities committed by Khimani, as well as his ineligibility for the post.

Gujarat High Court, too, had ordered the varsity on September 21 to decide on Khimani’s removal within two months.

A month later, Khimani continued to be the vice-chancellor.

Earlier in the day, Devvrat arrived at the university campus with heavy police deployment. Students and the teachers were in awe; one of them commented, "This was the first time that we saw the presence of so many policemen inside the campus.”

The governor was received by Khimani and sociologist Vidyut Joshi, who is an adjunct faculty with Gujarat Vidyapith.