Deafening silence and choreographed timidity in SAU, says Sri Lankan scholar forced to quit over Chomsky’s criticism of NDA govt

Speaking to The Indian Express from Sri Lanka, Perera said, “I decided to retire prematurely as I did not see any semblance of justice coming from a process that was initiated, in the first place, on trumped up and irrational charges. So, yes, if not for the disciplinary inquiry and the illegal, let alone unethical ways in which it unfolded, I would have opted to remain at SAU until next year to retire as I had planned. But this was simply not possible.”

As first reported by this newspaper on July 27, SAU had issued notices to the PhD student and his supervisor Perera earlier this year over the former’s proposal on Kashmir’s ethnography and politics which cited, among other things, an interview with Chomsky in which the linguist is heard saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes from a “radical Hindutva tradition” and is attempting to “dismantle Indian secular democracy” and “impose Hindu technocracy.”

During the inquiry, the student apologised to the university administration.

Perera said that the student “…merely stated that he apologises if the interview he had conducted and referred to in his proposal has hurt anybody’s feelings…And I think that is reasonable. But what has been done to the student and to me, are utterly unreasonable acts and should not be faced by anyone…No one has said a word. My former department and university colleagues have maintained a deafening silence…This is a classic example of the parochiality now apparent in SAU coming to the fore.”

When contacted, Dev Nath Pathak, head of SAU’s Sociology department declined to comment.

The Indian Express reached out to Sanjay Chaturvedi, the Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences through calls and messages but didn’t receive a response.

Perera added: “Unfortunately, the fallout of this silence and the institutionalised and choreographed timidity is that no critical and self-reflective research will ever be undertaken at the South Asian University. Not in any department. No one will be willing to supervise such research even if some students may want to.”

Referring to Chomsky’s critique of the NDA government in the proposal which triggered the inquiry, Perera said that targeting him and his student “for an opinion that neither of us have authored is beyond ridiculousness.” “Chomsky’s criticism of the Indian Prime Minister…is nothing new. It also has nothing to do with the study of Kashmir. This is a general criticism which he has made elsewhere too…. If these people have a problem with these views, they should have questioned Prof Chomsky.” he said.

“It appears there was an expectation that I would compromise the student concerned, and also come begging to the Dean and the SAU President and ask for their ‘pardon’. But this is not the background I come from. For me, what is wrong is wrong and I will not pander to anyone to save my own skin. Expectedly, this was not a welcome trait in the SAU environment which rewarded subservience.” he added.

Perera says he plans to co-edit a book on South Asian intellectual traditions, write about pilgrimage, continue a heritage project, and translate poetry.