Ashoka emblem of state of democracy

The resignation of Pratap Bhanu Mehta from Ashoka University has again put the focus on the challenges and threats to academic freedom in institutions of higher education and generally on the constraints on freedom of expression of any individual in the present environment in the country. Mehta is among the country’s foremost public intellectuals and has been a critic of the present government. That was the reason why he had to step down. As he says in his resignation letter, his ‘’association with the university may be considered a political liability now’’ by its founders. Former chief economic adviser to the government and a professor in the university Arvind Subramanian also resigned after Mehta quit. Students and faculty members of the university have protested against the circumstances that forced Mehta to quit. Academicians from major universities in other countries have expressed their support for him and condemned the assault on liberal and democratic values that the pressure on him exemplified.

Ashoka University is a young university which functions on a philanthropic model, funded by its founders. These founders have a say in the administration of the university. They are on their part susceptible to influence on account of their business or other interests. Mehta resigned after a meeting with the founders and so it is clear that his decision followed some disagreement or displeasure about him. Universities are not companies whose owners have to often kowtow to power and authority. Academic freedom is at the heart of the functioning of a university. Teachers and students should have the freedom to hold their own views and to talk and write about them. It is especially important that there is scope for debate, dissent and disagreement because it is the freedom to question and criticise traditions and established ideas and practices and to present alternatives that gives vigour to intellectual life. Teachers need to lead students by example in this.

Societies progress only when they have that freedom and citizens exercise it. This is being constrained in universities and in the wider society now. Mehta has said that his “public writing in support of a politics that tries to honour constitutional values of freedom and equal respect for all citizens is perceived to carry risks for the university.” What has happened in Ashoka University is symptomatic of a broader assault on academic freedom in other institutions of learning and on citizens’ freedoms in society. Ashoka University has lost a lot of goodwill and reputation with this incident. It has admitted that "there have been some lapses in institutional processes" and has promised to correct course. The message should not be lost on other universities.