Less than six months after his faculty supervisor, Sasanka Perera, a Sri Lankan anthropologist, resigned, a PhD scholar has withdrawn from his program at South Asian University (SAU) over an issue surrounding the scholar’s research proposal. Finding the alleged charges, the university had issued a show-cause notice to the research scholar over his doctoral research proposal on Kashmir’s ethnography and politics. The issue had also caused a disciplinary inquiry by the university against the scholar’s supervisor, who left the university citing personal reasons on July 31, 2024, according to a report by Indian Express.

Sharing the news of the scholar’s withdrawal from the PhD programme, his former supervisor Perera, who resigned from the university last year, took to his social media platform and remarked, “South Asian University is back in the news yet again for all the wrong reasons, again. It is beyond redemption unless the immoral immunity from prosecution granted to it by India is removed.”

Read Also: Students To Sue Columbia University For Suspension Over Palestine Solidarity Protests

South Asian University back in the news yet again for all the wrong reasons, again. It is beyond redemption unless the immoral immunity grom prosecution granted to it by India is removed …. https://t.co/zhAhdIWB46

— Sasanka Perera (@sasmester) March 6, 2025

It is reported that the issue was concerning a reference given by the PhD scholar in his research proposal citing renowned American professor and public intellectual Noam Chomsky’s criticism of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. The scholar reportedly cited a private YouTube video where the linguist accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of attempting to “dismantle Indian secular democracy” and “impose Hindu ethnocracy” in Kashmir.

SAU had issued notices to Perera in April 2024 and the research scholar in May 2024 demanding an explanation regarding their conduct. While resigning from the institution, the professor said that he didn’t see any semblance of justice coming from the inquiry, which he believed was initiated on falsely invented and irrational charges, as per the report.

Meanwhile, the researcher had appeared before a disciplinary committee after Perera’s quitting and apologised for “hurting sentiments”. However, in December, officials from his department reached out to the researcher enquiring about his absence. Though the researcher initially cited medical reasons for absence, assuring that he would return to the department in the first week of January 2025, he later informed the office that has withdrawn from the PhD programme.

The scholar has also conveyed that he is no longer associated with the university and has decided to focus on his business, which he has already communicated to his new supervisor.

Neither the scholar nor the SAU authorities did respond to the queries for an explanation, the media house added. SAU is an international university sponsored by the eight Member States of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The university currently runs on its campus at Maidan Garhi in South Delhi. Sri Lanka is one of the sponsors and a member state of its Governing Board, and Perera was working at SAU for 13 years and was the only Sri Lankan professor on campus.

Read Also: Raghav Chadha Begins Academic Journey At Harvard University

Perera has been opposing the conduct of the university authorities ever since. Recently, on Shivratri (February 26), some right-wing elements demanded non-vegetarian food at the college canteen be served in a separate area. However, the matter turned into chaos when a person hit a female student who argued against food segregation on the campus. However, the victim being an Indian student, the county was saved from giving an explanation to the parents from the foreign countries.

The Sri Lankan anthropologist had shared a social media post of the female student who was hit, admiring her courage. The student had alleged lack of action from the college officials after the “extremists beat me and touched me inappropriately” as per her post. “I’m not going to shut up. “I hope the DoS (Daddy of Sanghis not Dean of Students) knows that I will not lose hope,” she wrote on X.

If nothing else, toxic SAU will make @Yashadaaa a good cartoonist, which has is a weapon of protest and resistance in many cultures, including yours and mine. Admire your courage https://t.co/CblRXn5DCm

— Sasanka Perera (@sasmester) March 2, 2025

While responding to the incident, Perera said, “SAU will always remain a criminal enterprise protected by Indian law as long as the it is afforded the immoral immunity from prosecution by India”

The SAU has been set up under an intergovernmental agreement by SAARC, and the university has a mission of nurturing a new class of liberal, bright and quality leadership and building the capacity of the region. However, “India now seems content to let the institution wither along with SAARC,” laments the former faculty member.