After Jawaharlal Nehru University asked noted historian Romila Thapar to submit her CV for them to decide if she should continue as professor emerita, Thapar said the re-evaluation is not called for and that the university’s motive was not hard to guess.
According to a report by The Telegraph, JNU registrar Pramod Kumar wrote to Thapar last month asking her to submit her CV so that a “committee appointed by the university could evaluate” her work and decide whether she should continue.
The JNU Teachers' Association (JNUTA) called the administration’s move "politically motivated" after the university defended its actions citing standard procedure, reported PTI.
Apart from Thapar, other professor emeriti like sociologist TK Oommen have also received letters from JNU registrar asking for their CVs, reports The Hindu.
“It is embarrassing for professors emeritus to be asked such a thing. Our CVs, the record of our work and achievements are easily available. What is the need to write and ask for such a thing?” Oommen told The Hindu. The appointment of professor emeriti in JNU is usually a lifetime appointment.
JNU's Executive Council reportedly met on 23 August where the guidelines for the emeritus professor designation were revised. According to The Hindu, the new guidelines stipulate reviewing existing emeritus professors after "attainment of her/his age of seventy five years by considering her/his health status, willingness, availability, university needs etc so that more positions will be available to other potential candidates.”
The Quint spoke to Thapar who said the university is supposed to maintain a website with up-to-date information on all faculty members who are still alive. “I presume they have all the information there,” she said.
The official website of JNU already carries Thapar’s resume.
“To re-evaluate the academic work of an emeritus professor shows no understanding of what is meant by the category called an emeritus professor. It is a status conferred by the university on a retired professor to honour the life-time academic achievements of that person. It is acknowledging existing achievements and is not concerned with future work,” she said.
“The status is for life, as it has been in accordance with the letters we received when first made professor emeritus. The status is honorary so there are no obligations whatsoever on the part of either the professor or the university, other than the conferment of status.”Romila Thapar to The Quint
The Quint has reached out to JNU and the article will be updated when they respond on the matter.
R Subrahmanyan, Education Secretary in HRD Ministry, tweeted and said that there is "no move to discontinue Professor Emeritus status to anyone, especially respected academicians; only provisions of Ordinance are being followed."
‘Motive Not Hard to Guess,’ Says Thapar
Thapar said that there is no requirement from the university’s end to re-evaluate her CV and work as per her status in the institution.
“Why this resolution for re-evaluation was passed by the executive council and is being applied to me and possibly others has a motive and it is not hard to guess what that motive may be,” she said.
She further added “many of us in JNU have expressed our disagreement with the way it is currently functioning, and some of us have been quite outspoken about it.”
‘University Following Provisions of Ordinance’
After the University’s move received backlash on social media, Union Higher Education Secretary R Subrahmanyam clarified that by asking for Thapar’s biodata, the university was only following the provisions of ordinance and that there was "no move to discontinue anyone's professor emeritus status," IANS reported.
The university, in its statement, said that it is just following its ordinance, PTI reported.
“As per the ordinance, the university is required to write to all those who have attained the age of 75 years to know their availability and their willingness to continue their association with the university.”JNU Administration
The letters were sent for the purposes of an informed review, 'consistent with the practices at reputed universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Princeton University', the statement added.
Politically Motivated, Say JNU Profs
In its statement, JNUTA demanded that the move be retracted and an apology issued to Thapar, reported PTI.
“(The move is a) deliberate attempt to try and dishonour those who have been critical of the current administration.”JNUTA
The association further accused the administration of denigrating the teaching and learning traditions of JNU.
"The insult to Prof. Romila Thapar is just another politically motivated step in this regard, motivated no doubt by the active and steadfast support and inspiration she has provided to the teachers and students of JNU in their fight to keep the university in line with the vision and ideals embedded into its foundations," JNUTA said.
JNUTA said that Thapar was designated professor emerita 25 years before the "misplaced guideline" was formulated (referring to the review of 75-year-old professors) and that its retrospective application was “simply illegal”, reported PTI.
‘Can JNU Sink Any Lower?’: Shashi Tharoor
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, in a tweet, called JNU’s move “worse than an insult” and asked “can JNU sink any lower?”
The university’s move also received major backlash on social media by netizens and journalists.
(With inputs from The Telegraph and PTI)
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