A notice sent by the Registrar of Jawaharlal Nehru University to professor emeritus Prabhat Patnaik for addressing students at a public lecture on August 4 has triggered another debate over “suppression of voices” on campus.
While the students held a protest on Friday against an “undeclared emergency imposed in the premier institute”, Professor Patnaik also hit back at JNU for “demanding obedience” from a professor emeritus. Professor Patnaik was one of the speakers at a seminar organised by the JNUSU on “The idea of a university: democracy, resistance and future challenges”.
The seminar was held near the university’s Administrative Block, which was recently declared a prohibited space for public gatherings.
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Notice before lecture
A day before the event, on August 3, JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar sent a letter to Professor Patnaik asking him to not participate in the event. “You are requested not to address the said meeting as its venue falls in the close vicinity of Administrative Block, which is a prohibited area within the university campus, for holding such activity” read the letter, a copy of which is with
In his reply, the acclaimed economist wrote, “Since I have agreed to speak at the meeting, which is to discuss an important academic issue, namely the idea of a university, I shall do so. I am a retired professor with no regular contact with the students’ union. It is not for me to tell them where they should hold their meetings.”
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Second letter
Consequently, the professor was sent a second notice where he was chided for attending the meeting. “It is unfortunate that you did not care to respect the rules of the university where you have served for decades and are currently holding the position of emeritus professor.”
“It is expected from you that such violation of rules is not repeated in future,” the letter added.
Following this notice, Professor Patnaik, in a crisp email to the registrar, wrote: “I would like to remind you that I am not a salaried employee of the university but only a professor emeritus, whose relations with the university authorities of any particular time are governed by mutual courtesy and not by obedience to these authorities. Your letter which demands obedience is clearly based on a misconception.”
Speaking to The Hindu , Professor Patnaik said, “It came as a surprise to me. I do not know what prompted them to write the letter. There is no point of sending this directive to an emeritus professor.”
Speaking about the administration’s “increasing interference” in such matters, JNUSU president Mohit Kumar Pandey said: “It is a phenomenon which is gradually increasing. However, what we are seeing is that there is a wrongful penalisation of students and professors. This is just a way of isolating the student community from the professors.”