A professor of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore has locked horns with the Director of the institute after receiving a censure order. The order was issued by IIMB Director G. Raghuram to Deepak Malghan, Associate Professor, Public Policy asking him to retract a campaign against a potential recruiter for the summer internship programme.
Prof. Malghan had written to students asking them if they could dis-invite HUL/Unilever from the upcoming summer placements unless they pledge to end their environmental racism. "An institution like IIMB dis-inviting them from placements will send out a powerful message that management institutions can actually walk the talk about corporate responsibility," he had said in a letter to students in June 2018.
Although the professor later withdrew the letter in protest pending appeal, he has appealed to the Board of Governors on the matter. Prof. Malghan told The Hindu that he was appealing against the order from the competent authority as he believed ‘it strikes at the very foundation of academic freedom in an institution of higher learning — the ability of the teacher to communicate with her / his students without fear of persecution."
He has further stated in his letter to students and authorities in IIMB: "A university’s primary fidelity ought to be to free and open scholarship, research, and learning. As a management institution that aims to be counted amongst the best, this translates to a steadfast commitment to truthfully discovering the complexities of business, government, and society."
IIMB Director Mr. Raghuram, in a press release, stated that the institute holds the highest traditions of academic freedom. He, however, said that with it comes ‘responsibility of one’s actions on other stakeholders’. The statement goes on to say: "This censure was a consequence of a series of issues over a long period of time with the said faculty member. In this particular instance, an email from Professor Malghan had called upon students to ‘dis-invite’ HUL from the placement process. Many students and several members of the IIMB community expressed displeasure with such an email, and they sought to know whether such statements could be made. On multiple grounds, an internal process was undertaken. After following due processes and coming to certain findings, the competent authority has taken a decision to issue the censure.”
