Incredible India

American Fulbright scholars being stonewalled by India8217;s bureaucracy have, as reported in this newspaper, appealed to the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice. We would like to specifically address India8217;s prime minister. Like Rice, Manmohan Singh is a scholar-politician. More, Singh is a beneficiary of the open global trade in intellectual talent. Imagine the British bureaucracy sitting on Cambridge8217;s offer to Singh. You can8217;t. Therefore, we would like to ask Singh, what are the implications of his government8217;s babus, whether from HRD, home or external affairs, not only denying visas to American scholars selected by a globally respected academic foundation but also asking some of them to change research topics.

This is a shameful indictment of India8217;s claims to being a liberal democracy. There8217;s something dreadful about Intelligence Bureau staffers sitting in judgment on research topics. We can say this reminds us of China. Except that it would be unfair on China. China, first, makes no pretensions of being a democracy. Second, while free academic inquiry is not possible in China it is otherwise doing a fine job of integrating its higher education system to the global mainstream and upping its standards as a result. This is something India needs to do. But if the heavy hand of bureaucratic paranoia is going to guide scholarly pursuits then India, as a democracy, can kiss goodbye to dreams of becoming another global centre of high quality intellectual production.

The prime minister therefore must first intervene, quickly and directly, and order that all pending visas be cleared, that concerned departments proffer suitable apologies and that orders about changing research topics be rescinded. Then he must ask for a thorough review of the whole system of clearance. We would like to argue that IB vetting research topics is a Kafkaesque blot on India8217;s democracy. Also that three ministries passing files back and forth is a recipe for endless harassment. The prime minister must note that it is under his government that Fulbright scholars have been treated the worst. He must demand to know who in his administration have arrogated the right to themselves to trade India8217;s reputation for their bureaucratic thrills.