Was not aware of Chomsky criticism of NDA when I wrote to SAU: Lanka envoy

On April 23, Sri Lankan High Commissioner Kshenuka Senewiratne, in a meeting with SAU president K K Aggarwal, expressed her “concerns” regarding “an intended inquiry” against Perera. She also wrote a letter to Aggarwal on May 12.

In response to The Indian Express report on her letter (August 4), the High Commissioner has said that it gave a “false impression that even with the criticism of the NDA government by Mr Chomsky being included in the research proposal, concern was flagged by me on the action envisaged at that juncture by the SAU, with regard to Prof Perera.”

“As already responded to a query by your journalist on August 1,” she wrote, “the High Commission stated that its association with this matter is based on Prof Perera being a Sri Lankan national and the only academic at the SAU of Sri Lankan descent. It is reiterated that representations to the SAU therefore were solely made on this basis and also in accordance with the information provided by Prof Perera to the High Commission in mid-April, which at no instance had any reference to the aforementioned interview of Mr Chomsky.”

“It is hereby emphasised that at the time of the representations being made by me to the University, the information of the said interview had not been divulged to the High Commission. It may be pertinent to note that the last letter from the SAU regretted the High Commission not knowing the full facts of the case, which seems in hindsight interalia to be reference to this interview content,” she wrote.

“It may also be noted that the representations to this High Commission by Prof Perera had been made before the inquiry by the University had commenced, and therefore I was not privy to any details which may have come to the fore during the inquiry process. In fact, the reference to the inclusion of the said interview in the scholar’s proposal was first learnt by the High Commission from The Indian Express article,” she wrote.

Stating that the report “could unfortunately create negativity on the existing robust bilateral relations”, she added, “As a diplomatic representative guided by the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, and having a duty not to associate in the internal affairs of the host country, no representation at a diplomatic level would have been made to the SAU if there had been any information made available on the stated interview, contained in the aforementioned research proposal.”

“Further, the article alludes to the High Commissioner having taken up the matter with the SAU and calling the situation ‘extremely disconcerting’, which is out of context. It was the unavailability of a response from the SAU regarding the status of the inquiry, that the said observation of the situation was made in my communication,” she wrote.

SAU is an international university sponsored by eight SAARC countries, and Sri Lanka is a member state of its Governing Board. Perera, who taught sociology and was a founding member of the department at SAU, left the institution after an inquiry was initiated against him. The SAU had earlier said that while an inquiry had indeed been instituted against Perera, “no PhD proposal led to the resignation of a professor”.

The PhD scholar, who was issued a show cause notice, has apologised to the university administration.