SAU Student Faces Notice Over Chomsky Critique of PM in PhD Proposal; Sri Lankan Scholar Resigns
A show cause notice was issued to a PhD scholar for citing American linguist Noam Chomsky’s criticism of the NDA government in his doctoral research proposal on Kashmir’s ethnography and politics. A disciplinary inquiry was also taken against her supervisor at the South Asian University (SAU) in New Delhi, reports Indian Express.
Following the disciplinary inquiry, supervisor, Sasanka Perera, who teaches sociology and founding member of the Sociology department at SAU, resigned from the university.
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Perera had declined to comment on the disciplinary inquiry and resignation, reports the daily. However, the PhD scholar has tendered an apology to the university administration for hurting the sentiments.
When reached for comment, SAU told Indian Express that an inquiry has been instituted but said that “no PhD proposal led to the resignation of a professor”.
As per the report, the PhD proposal was submitted by the PhD scholar in November last year, and it was approved by the supervisor before being sent to the Dean of Social Sciences.
The SAU’s PhD guideline says that a PhD candidate needs permission from his supervisor, the Dean, and/or the Department Board of Studies before starting fieldwork. In this case, the approval was given by the supervisor and was sent to the Dean for permission to start fieldwork. Later on May 9, the student received a show-cause notice.
It is learned that the notice flagged a private YouTube video of an interview with Chomsky, which the scholar recorded in 2021 and uploaded in 2022. In the video, the PhD scholar cited in the proposal, Chomsky is heard saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes from a “radical Hindutva tradition” and is attempting to “dismantle Indian secular democracy” and “impose Hindu technocracy”.
The notice sent to the PhD scholar demanded an explanation from the PhD candidate and the supervisor regarding the choice of topic. A response was then submitted on May 15 which included the rationale for pursuing the interview as academic research and an apology, following which the purported video was taken down.
Perera who resigned is a cultural anthropologist and holds a Master’s and PhD degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has been the Chairman of the Department of Sociology (2011-2014), the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences (2011-2018), and the Vice President of SAU (2016-2019).
He has also worked with the Department of Sociology at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka for 20 years.
