The IIT-BHU abruptly terminated Sandeep Pandey’s contract as a visiting professor recently for indulging in activities “against national interest.” A well-known social activist and scholar based in Uttar Pradesh, Dr. Pandey’s grassroots movements, on issues such as human rights, land rights, education and environment, earned him the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award in 2002. Dr. Pandey talks to The Hindu about the background of his expulsion and the “saffronization” of educational institutes under the BJP government.
We find the phrase “anti-national” thrown about easily for persons who are not in agreement with the ideology of the ruling BJP. You boast of an impeccable academic record. What made the IIT-BHU board of governors term your teaching “against national interest” and label you a “Naxalite?”
A: The RSS, which controls the BJP government, is a fascist organisation, which cannot tolerate any other ideology. My presence on the campus was an obstacle to them because I was running a forum called the 'Acharya Narendra Dev Discussion/Film Series' in which issues related to inequality, injustice, threat to environment were discussed. Students from BHU actively participated in it and I was engaged in a number of social interventions either directly or indirectly through IIT students from my 'Development Studies' class. One of our achievements was to have a passage opened to a Musahar community locality, who were otherwise likely to be trapped by construction all around, in a neighbouring village Susuwahi with the help of the district administration. The RSS affiliated Vice-Chancellor needed an excuse to throw me out and he used a complaint by a political science student who was not even in my class.
You claim that the university acted against you based on the complaint of a single student, who is affiliated to the ABVP. What was the complaint against you?
The complainant Avinash Pandey, M.A. 2nd year student, claims on his Facebook that he does social work with RSS. In addition to the ridiculous charges mentioned above he has alleged that 'There is no requirement of taking attendance, classes and examination in Development Studies course run by Dr. Sandeep Pandey and students get A grade without any examination.' In response, I've to say that I've conducted all my classes, which may be verified. I had taken permission from the Director, IIT-BHU for getting the requirement of attendance and examination waived. I've used one-to-one interactive non-competitive method of evaluation not for the first time at IIT-BHU but earlier at IIT Gandhinagar and IIT Kanpur as well. I was invited to the Salizburg Global Seminar, 'Untapped Talent: Can better testing and data accelerate creativity in learning and societies?,' Salzburg, Austria from 12 to 17 December, 2015, which was sponsored by Educational Testing Service, Princeton, Inter-American Development Bank, Washington D.C., National Science Foundation of U.S., and Royal Society of Arts, London, to make a presentation on my evaluation method, only days before decision was taken in BHU to terminate my contract. The students who complete all their assigned work only get A grades in my class, rest get lower grades, which may also be verified from grades awarded three times when I've taught the Development Studies course.
Showing a banned documentary of the 2012 Delhi gang rape on campus and leading a protest for the employment rights of contract labourers, seems to have put you in the wrong books of the administration.
I believe that until the issue of sexual violence against women is openly discussed in society the problem will persist. This was the reason for proposed screening of 'India's Daughters' and publicly sharing its link. It is not a film that would not have created a law and order problem nor would have posed a threat to nation's security. I went to support the 40 employees when their contract was terminated without giving any reason and they sat on fast at the main gate of BHU. Some of them had been working for more than 10 years. It was a question of their families' survival. When I spoke to the VC he said he is not responsible for their families and that I should keep away from this issue. He further added that if I wanted to be a Jayaprakash Narayan I should leave my job. I think he took the decision to throw me out then. But I don't regret any of my actions and will stand by my decisions.
Support has been pouring in for you. Days after you received the termination letter, you went to the campus to stage your protest and even worked the charkha (spinning wheel). What ideology would you best relate to? Off the record, senior varsity officials accused you of propagating a “Leftist ideology” on campus.
I'm a Gandhian by thought and in action. I'm often associated with people from the Left because they are the only people on the entire political spectrum who raise the issues of poor and work with them. My work is also mainly with weaker socio-economic categories of population. It is a superficial understanding of people who label anybody working for the empowerment of poor as a Naxalite.
The BHU completes a century this year. How would you rate the intellectual freedom in the varsity after the BJP came to power? How has the academic atmosphere changed for better or worse, in the last three years you have taught there? You are also an alumnus of the institute.
The space for intellectual freedom in BHU has shrunk since I was a student there during 1982-86 but it has deteriorated fast during BJP's rule. People associated with RSS and BJP are free to carry out their activities but not anybody else. The progressive atmosphere of university campus is sadly missing here.
How far are you willing to take this fight? Will you take legal action against BHU?
I was initially not thinking of approaching the court since the nature of my job was contractual. But when I discovered that action has been taken against me based on a motivated complaint and without any enquiry having been conducted I've decided to go to the High Court. The larger battle of struggle against communal-fascist ideology will continue to be fought in society. We're going to propose building a multi-faith harmony centre or 'sarva dharm sadhbhav kendra' in Ayodhya as a model of futuristic religious places where person believing in any religion or any ideology including atheism will be welcome and people will respect each other's faith. It'll be like modern Europe where boundaries will cease to be divisive.
The University has said that it is its prerogative to terminate contracts and that you are raising the issue for publicity. It has also said that in the garb of teaching you were propagating a particular strain of politics.
I can also allege that the VC is indulging in politics because of the manner and method in which I was dismissed. The topics that I covered in either my Development Studies class or 'Acharya Narendra Dev Discussion/Film Series' would fall under the broad ideological category on Gandhian-socialism. Acharya Narendra Dev, a reputed Buddhist scholar and a fine human being, who served as VC of 3 universities including BHU also happened to be the first President of Socialist Party. I was carrying on the Gandhian-socialist legacy and everything I discussed was in consonance with values enshrined in our Constitution. The charges of being a Naxalite and anti-national against me are baseless.
You have alleged in your statements about the “saffronisation” going on in the university and how admissions were taking place compromising quality but favouring a particular ideology or organization. You have also raised questions about the appointment of the current VC.
The last VC Professor Lalji Singh was not a good administrator but he was a renowned researcher. The current VC Professor G.C. Tripathi is neither. His only qualification is his association with RSS. He has been thrust upon IIT as Chairman, Board of Governors by the HRD Minister, Smriti Irani, as his name was not there in the panel of five recommended by the Board. The unqualified VC is recruiting unqualified people and admitting undeserving students associated with RSS and ABVP, respectively. For example, recent appointment of Gyan Prakash Mishra in the Journalism and mass Communication department without meeting the basic criteria is because of his proximity to BJP leader Murali Manohar Joshi.
You have always been active in protests and human rights initiatives, including a major one against Coca-Cola’s bottling plant in Varanasi. You have made it clear that you were sacked as your record/ideological position does not agree with the ideological position of the current dispensation in the university.
It quite clearly is the reason. It is quite interesting that Swadeshi Jagran Manch which used to protest against Coca-Cola has stopped doing so after BJP came to power as Narendra Modi has aggressively adopted pro-capitalist policies. The UP Pollution Control Board which had revoked the licence of the factory in Mehdiganj in 2014 has given permission to operate it now. We had taken out a march in the memory of Acharya Narendra Dev from BHU to Kashi Vidyapeeth protesting the attempts by Narendra Modi government to tamper with the amendments in Land Acquisition Act. The university authorities were uncomfortable with such actions.
Be it the death of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad or the furore over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan in FTII, Pune, there have been numerous controversies in central educational institutions under the current regime. You find yourself part of the trend?
Like in Rohith Vemula's case, screening of a film became a point of controversy in my case also. The RSS cannot digest films like 'Muzaffarnagar Baki Hai' or 'India's Daughters'. The only thing common between Gajendra Chauhan, G.C. Tripathi or Appa Rao Podile, the University of Hyderabad VC who has proceeded on leave after Rohith's suicide, is their proximity to RSS or BJP leader(s). The RSS wants to micromanage things on academic campuses so that it can influence young minds and through them control society and intervene in politics for a long time to come. It is a sinister ploy which is going to erode whatever academic credibility Indian universities have. Its actions are laying the foundations for a retrogressive society where reason, liberty, justice, equality and human rights will not be considered things to worry about.
You are always dressed in plain kurta pyjamas and said to not drink milk. Tell us a bit about these life choices.
I wear kurta-pyjama and hawai chappals because I'm most comfortable in this attire. I became a vegan, i.e., one who doesn't use animal products, during my stay on UC, Berkeley campus where among other ideas the animal rights movement had an effect on me. However, I'm not very strict. I do allow myself the luxury of milk in tea at times and wear non-khadi kurta-pyjama when people gift them. I usually ride a bicycle over short distances but do use motorised vehicles and airplanes when it is necessary. The overall attempt is to have a lifestyle as well as working style which is low cost and uses least resources. I also like to do things myself, for example, prepare the placards for demonstrations. I grew up in a middle class family where my father was a Railways official and studied in Kendriya Vidyalaya I was troubled by the practice of inequality and use of violence against the weak in society and always wanted to do something about it. The people who influenced me most were Mahatma Gandhi and Gautam Buddha.
