Fourteen academics from universities across Australia have given up their affiliation with the Melbourne-based Australia India Institute (AII), alleging their reluctance to discuss important issues of the ruling establishment in India.
Among others, he cites his decision to “reject” an essay on the implications of “the rise of Hindu nationalism” and pull the plug on a podcast on the impact of caste in education and private enterprise in India.
The AII was established in 2008 at the University of Melbourne with a grant of US$8 million from the Australian Government in view of a series of initiatives “to seek and gain a greater understanding of both countries through various streams of academic research”. Was. Hate crimes against Indians.
On 29 March this year, 13 academicians with affiliation to AII signed a resignation letter addressed to Professor Duncan Maskel, Vice Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. The letter accused AII of acting on “propaganda”, promoting “ignoring” and “marginalization of Indian minorities” by the Government of India. Later, another academic fellow resigned.
“After some criticism over the point of a colleague of AII on invisible inequalities (touching on class and caste), AII refused to support the publication of a piece aimed at discussing the attacks on Gandhi (his statue in Melbourne). The letter was prepared by two of AII’s colleagues (including the speaker). The letter states that they were told that AII had decided to “stay away from the subject for a while”. has done.
The letter said, “We also noted that a Year to Asia podcast by these two peers in India and abroad, Cast and Corporation, has also not been included on AI’s website, although they were included by others.” is.”
Both the essay and the podcast were the projects of Professor Hari Bapuji, Professor, Department of Management and Marketing, and Professor Dolly Kikon, University of Melbourne. Bapuji is also among the 14 people who resigned.
The essay, “Understanding Modern Attacks on Gandhi”, seeks to examine possible reasons behind targeted attacks on Gandhi, including the vandalism of his statues.
“Gandhi’s vision for life and future is rooted in India’s principles of secularism and the rights of all religious groups. The right to religious freedom is actually enshrined in the Constitution of India. But these theories are now losing favor as Hindu nationalism is gaining currency and the possibilities of changing the constitution are also now being considered,” said the essay, later published by Pursuit, a forum at the University of Melbourne. had gone.
The 47-minute podcast, “Cast and Corporation, in India and Abroad”, traces the origins of the caste system and its impact on various sectors, from education to private corporations and bureaucracy.
When contacted, a Melbourne University spokesperson said Indian Express: “The University of Melbourne and the Australia India Institute respect the decision of Academic Fellows who have recently tendered their resignation. The University stands firmly in support of the strategic direction of AII, its Board and the Chief Executive Officer. The University of Melbourne provides academic freedom and Committed to freedom of speech. They are at the heart of our core values and identity.”
The spokesperson said in an emailed response: “The university has been working on strengthening our policies in this area for the past two years and takes any such allegations very seriously.” However, some academics who have resigned disagree. “It puts pressure on credibility to characterize AII’s decision as a benign editorial decision. The mission and orientation chosen for AII sits uncomfortably with the work which may be viewed adversely by the Government of India. Furthermore, there has been a consistent pattern of events and content supporting AII, which has tasted propaganda celebrating the current Indian government,” one of them told The Indian Express on the condition of anonymity.
Another signatory told The Indian Express that 14 out of around 40 academicians affiliated with AII resigned as the institute “may lose conspiracy in other matters and depart from its past history and legacy”.
In addition to the University of Melbourne, 14 academics represent the University of Western Australia, the University of New South Wales, Alabama’s Business University College in Huntsville, the Australian National University, the University of Technology Sydney, La Trobe University and the University of Adelaide. One of the Fellows, Dr. Ian Woolford, Lecturer (Hindi Language), Department of Language and Culture, La Trobe University, posted on Twitter that he resigned from “his affiliation with the Australia India Institute” due to concerns over government interference and sanctions. had given academic freedom”.
According to an Indian official, who was involved in the process of setting up the institute, several academics under founding director Professor Amitabh Mattoo were initially selected on an ad-hoc basis to “build a community” of dedicated scholars. Study of two nations. One of the academicians who resigned stated that “none of these academic fellows are funded in any way by the AII”.
In their resignation letter, peers also questioned the process through which former Australian Senator Lisa Singh was selected to lead the AII in 2021. Singh did not respond to requests for comment. In December 2020, 24 peers, including 12 who had recently quit, raised other issues in a letter to the University of Melbourne. In that letter, he claimed that “after the intervention of the Indian High Commissioner, the publicly advertised program was downgraded to a private invitation-only seminar”. The Indian High Commission in Canberra did not respond to requests for comment.