A day after Nobel laureate Amartya Sen “excluded” himself from continuing as Chancellor of Nalanda University after his term ends in July, a Governing Board member said it was a “sad day for the Nalanda dream”. Amartya Sen’s decision was meant to draw attention to the government’s delay in clearing his name for Chancellorship for a second term — although the Governing Board unanimously recommended it. The Ministry of External Affairs has rejected Sen’s contention that it does not want him to continue as Chancellor, saying there was no attempt to “curtail” his tenure. The MEA said it was yet to receive the approved minutes of the board meeting. The Indian Express had reported on Friday that in a letter to the board sent on Thursday, Sen said it was “hard for him not to conclude that the government” wanted him to “cease” being Chancellor. The 12-member Board of the university had unanimously recommended that Sen serve in the position for a second term during a meeting on January 13-14. The final call has to be taken by President Pranab Mukherjee, the Visitor of all Central universities. [related-post] Nalanda Governing Board member Tansen Sen of City University of New York said via email, “The Governing Board unanimously and strongly recommended the extension of Amartya Sen’s term. Separate minutes were kept, passed, and submitted both to the Visitor (honorable President Pranab Mukherjee) and the MEA.” Tansen Sen also said any delay in implementing the recommendations would “impact India’s standing in international forums”. “It will not only perpetuate the negative stereotypical images of India, but will also hinder future collaborations with foreign countries in the field of education. The faculty and students. will be disheartened and disappointed with the lack of academic governance. This will make the recruitment of new faculty and students extremely difficult,” he said. Meanwhile, another Board member, Sugata Bose of Harvard University, a Trinamool Congress MP, said the university needed “continuity” of leadership. “We received the letter last night (Thursday). It was a sad day for the Nalanda dream. The governing board wanted Professor Sen to continue. As a citizen, I share his concern about university autonomy in India being compromised by undue political interference. Professor Sen had not wanted to take over as Chancellor even the first time, but he was requested and persuaded. Nalanda needed him, he didn’t need Nalanda,” Bose said, adding that Sen had taken a “dignified step”. Some other board members, including economist Lord Meghnad Desai of the London School of Economics and Vice-Chancellor Gopa Sabharwal, refused to comment on the matter. BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha member N K Singh said it was “not appropriate” for individual board members to comment on the issue. Anil Wadhwa, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, who is also on the board, said, “There is no issue here at all. Maybe he (Sen) didn’t want to wait.” Meanwhile, MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said the ministry was yet to receive the approved minutes of the meeting. “The draft minutes of the meeting were sent on February 13, and the board members have to respond in two weeks. Since the comments are to be sought by February 27, the minutes of the meeting will be finalised only after that,” he said.
