Faizan Mustafa has been asked to vacate office by 1 PM today in a very unceremonious manner, unfitting for someone of his stature and dedication. The honestly revolting politics surrounding the same has affected nalsar as a university and has brought down student and faculty morale.

Registrar is acting VC for now - but looking at the politics, it might be quite some time before NALSAR gets a full time VC.

Faizan Mustafa will be sorely missed by most ay NALSAR.

What's so great about Faizan Mustafa??

As a scholar, the man has not a single great publication. He is known mainly because of his YouTube videos and making comments on political issues (usually against the BJP position and in favour of the Congress position).

As an administrator, how many good faculty has he hired?

Quite a few faculty- we've had several new faculty in the past few years as well as big names coming in for guest lectures. I've written out all their names in every comment section each time this ridiculous point is brought up but people like you refuse to read. Sudhir has many publications but is HATED by people at NLS, so being a great academician is a wholly irrelevant criteria for a VC

And what’s the attrition rate? Every time you write that list more and more old people leave and new folks get added. Sudhir gets senior scholars like Kamala Sankaran, Arun T , Nigam, Mrinal, Aparna, folks who won’t just follow his instructions but can be partners in institution building and will keep in check his worst impulses. Does FM hire senior faculty like that?

No one I know at NLS hates the VC. they're critical, they're careful, they're cautious, but they're also equally optimistic, and grateful, and happy with some of the things he's done. the fact that you dont hear nalsar students talk about problems at their schools so often might not be because there are no problems but because there is a culture of silence and complicity. Sunlight is a disinfectant. yall should try some sometime.

1) SCOPUS is not meant to denote the quality of academic work.
2) The sheer difference between the quality of work that Sudhir and FM have produced is immense. This is not controversial among academics- it's really only NALSAR students that don't seem to get this as they live in some alternate reality with alternate facts. Sudhir does all his own research and writing. Even on co-authored projects he's usually the major contributor. You can call his co authors and ask them if that's true or not.
3) There are other scholars that can compare with Sudhir, of course, there are- Amita Dhanda has got most everyone else beat when it comes to H index and quality publications but Arun Thiruvengadam, Anup S, Mrinal S, Nigam, and a bunch of other people are also doing quite well for where they are in their careers. We should admire all of them for being so productive with their work just as we adopt a critical attitude in evaluating their work.
4) FM can be a good public speaker and a "public intellectual" for whatever that's worth. but this scholar thing- that's not his forte. I don't think people should pretend it is. You can like him without pretending the man doesn't have flaws.
5) Sudhir has plenty of publications in peer reviewed journals. that is just a bald-faced lie. In addition to his OUP book and his CUP edited volume, he has publications in SLR, IJCL, EPW( Yes it is peer reviewed- google it), NLSIR, IJLT, NLUD Journal along with scores of op eds published anywhere from NYT to the hindu to open magazine. All of this is easily google- able information. I literally looked it up on scholar for two seconds. If LI had any integrity they would censor tag it as contested, but they've quite shown their hand here.

I am not 4.2, but just my two cents here based on a quick read.
1. 4.2.2 appears to be taking things personally and creating a bit of a strawman argument. 4.2 was referring to only SCOPUS publications and not a list of all the publications of Sudhir. Personally, I agree with 4.2.2 that SCOPUS is not everything, but that was not the original point made. NIRF and the government by proxy seem to be taking the stance that only SCOPUS/WOS publications count as quality these days. I had also seen earlier posts/comments here claiming Sudhir's great scholarly reputation on the strength of his SCOPUS publications compared to others. One cannot have one's cake and eat it too.
2. EPW is not really peer-reviewed in the true sense of the term. I can vouch for that because I happen to have more than one publication in that journal. The editors take the call and no external reviewer (blind or open) gets to weigh in as a matter of course unless the paper has got some specific significance that needs to be cross-checked/verified. EPW legal papers are mostly opinion pieces, at least those which do not report specific studies conducted.
3. I respect Sudhir as a scholar. I do not believe that it is up to others to give anonymous verdict on the worth of a scholar judging by an incomplete list of publications without actually having read the stuff. He has authored two books that I have read, both of which are decent reads. Now if someone starts arguing that book publishers these days go only by name and not much by way of quality peer-review, then that argument cannot be won one way or another.
4. About Sudhir as an administrator, he is doing some good things at NLSIU (good recruitment, focus on research, future vision) and some not-so-good things (no need to list those out, plenty of posts about those are available). That makes him a human being, who is trying. One cannot achieve anything unless one is willing to try new things and make mistakes in the process. That is perhaps one of the biggest differences between Sudhir and Faizan as VCs. The latter did not really try to do that many new things at NALSAR other than the MBA programme. That's why he is leaving the place more or less the same from when he had assumed charge. However, that means stagnation, not growth. What Sudhir is doing, may help NLSIU in the long run, or it may not. At least he is staking his own professional reputation on it, and there are authorities who can stop him if he is doing anything improper. I do wish he had a little more empathy when it comes to judging people or their actions, but human beings have flaws. In addition, he can and will learn. Give him at least one full term and let's see.

Yeah. I do take facts seriously. my argument was two fold- 1) SCOPUS isn't a real indicator of the quality of a scholars work. 2) even if you accept that it is- Sudhir has plenty of publications on SCOPUS indexed journals.
There are good and bad articles in every journal EPW included. Sudhirs academic reputation is built on people actually reading his work and thinking it rigorous.
And as an academic he has been fairly ethical. Is his scholarship always exciting? not really, would it be far and ahead better than what most people in the country in that space do? hell yes. To my mind there is no comparison between FM as an academic and Sudhir as an academic.
About sudhir as an administrator- I agree with you. I think he has many good ideas, a few bad ones, and I think he's smart enough to hire people who will guide him away from his own worst impulses. Having said that he can appear to be stand offish. He can get quite self righteous, he can be impatient and he can sometimes make very bad decisions. He is a human. But he is doing something, and he is largely honest about his intentions and his work.
Any day of the year I would argue that its better to have a head of the institution who cares about it and will give it an earnest effort than one who will coast on former laurels and let the place stagnate. Students and VCs should have a complicated relationship ideally. there should be some push and pull. If everyone is getting along and hunky dory someone is not doing their job.

"Sudhir has plenty of publications on SCOPUS indexed journals including EPW." - Lie spotted! For someone who is all about facts, you don't check your claims very well. I have proof that Sudhir currently doesn't have a single SCOPUS journal article in his name other than 4 in EPW. His remaining SCOPUS indexed publications are 2 book chapters, 1 book, and 3 other chapters in a book edited by himself. Anybody can check it by searching his name on the SCOPUS website author profile page. Can you please stop trying to paint this guy bigger than he is? EPW is not at all a proper peer-reviewed journal of repute, no matter what you say.

SO wait- sudhirs scopus publications don't count because you don't want them to? I can name you other journals sudhir has published that are not scopus indexed but are generally better regarded- but you care about scopus- but somehow EPW doesn't count? His books dont count? nothing that's in scopus counts because you dont think is reputable? Well I think IJLT and SocioLegal review and NLSIR and a number of other places sudhir has published in have a wonderful reputation- can they count because apparently this is all about what we think now ?

See I thought you were saying- sudhir has no scopus journal publications- He does. EPW counts. its right there on SCOPUS sources list. but you have secondary criteria of what you think is valuable within scopus.

For what its worth- I think SCOPUS is an awful way to measure scholastic achievement. But does the man have scopus journal publications? Yes.

Stop trying to make the man to be less than he is. He's written books and chapters and he's authored reports and has had a very successful and illustrious career. Nobody in indian academia contests this. Only idiot law students who dont know better.
I'm not saying EPW is is this or that- EPW says its peer reviewed, SCOPUS says its reputable enough to list. Scholars from across the country have published in it enough to give it a good reputation. baki tu dekhle.

You should learn to read better. The original point has been a single one. Of all Sudhir's SCOPUS publications, there is none in reputed peer reviewed journals. EPW does not count as a peer reviewed journal. You keep trying to divert the attention from this point by bringing irrelevant matters up like his books or his publications in desi journals.

So rather than trust the website or the scores of people with good academic reputations who publish on this journal or hell even sticking to YOUR criteria of SCOPUS. We should trust you or some random commenter above ? Or just trust you that EPW shouldn’t count as scopus and peer reviewed even though it’s on scopus and it claims for itself that it’s peer reviewed? That’s how it works ?

And asking you questions makes one a bhakt ? I’ll write you a list right now if everything wrong with Sudhir Krishnaswamy if that would help dispel the notion. But to claim is scholarship is lacking is - just wrong. Brown / Columbia also are all places that care about academic achievement when they invite you to teach there. Ad hominem won’t make you right.

Just say you don’t like him and get it over with. You wish he wasn’t the scholar he was so it would lower standards for the other VCs.

Does he have scopus publications ? Yes. Does he have scopus journal publications? Yes. Does he have publications in good reputable journals not in scopus and in scopus? Yes. Does he have peer reviewed publications? Yes. Those are facts. That’s what I can google.

Everything else is your opinion buddy. And given you’ve been wrong about all those things - I don’t care much for your opinion. It’s hard to see why anyone should.

You keep shifting goalposts and making assumptions. This entire chain of comments started from a single claim. Sudhir's SCOPUS publications do not include peer-reviewed journal publications. Nobody claimed bad scholarship on his part or anything else for that matter. You kept importing all of that as if you're defending yourself from a personal attack. To defend that EPW is a peer-reviewed journal, you have cited two facts so far: 1. It claims to be thus on its website. 2. Scores of good people publish in it.
The second point has got no bearing on a journal being peer-reviewed. Honestly, this makes it pretty clear that you have no clue about what peer-review means. The first point is equally laughable. Plenty of journals make tall claims on their website, that does not make those claims true. On the other hand, one person has clearly said above that they have published in EPW (which means they should know the reality about it) and that it is not peer-reviewed in the sense that term is normally used. So far, you have not failed to refute that point. If you don't wish to believe his anon comment, then don't. But that does not make your claim about EPW true either. Have you yourself published in it? Clearly not.
Your comments become increasingly incoherent when you keep making up your own questions and then pretending to answer those. You even kept on conflating this argument with that of a comparison between Sudhir and Faizan as academics, which had never been the point.
Let's try to end the claim once and for all. EPW is not a law journal, it never has been. Nobody who is a legal researcher or author would call it a law journal (that doesn't stop it from being a good one). It is a good magazine that publishes decent pieces including law pieces, often good research and at other times, good opinion pieces. It is indexed in SCOPUS. It is not peer-reviewed (or it may be so).
Please name a single law journal that is SCOPUS indexed and peer-reviewed where Sudhir has a publication. Use all your google skills. A legal academician of his stature should really have a few at least. He is a Rhodes scholar and Oxford alum and been writing and researching for almost three decades now, yet he does not have a single publication in the top UK peer-reviewed journals almost all of which are SCOPUS indexed? You mentioned loads of Indian student-run law reviews. It is true that he has got publications there. It is equally true that those are not SCOPUS indexed, so cannot count in the context of this discussion at least.

If KCR does to NALSAR what Mamata did to NUJS, then there will be a delay of several months before the next VC takes over. In this period, the state government will appoint its own people to the governing body , increase domicile reservation etc. Remember that there is an election in Telangana in 2023. After these steps, a new puppet VC will be appointed. I don't have much hope in Upendra Baxi to help because he is now very old (85 years old) and frail. He also lives far away in Sonipat (JGLS).

Nevertheless, NALSAR alumni and students can do the following to resist, which NUJS students and alumni did not do:

1. Go to court and challenge attempts at interference
2. Become an intervenor in the NLSIU Nationalisation case in the Supreme Court and demand Nationalisation of NALSAR.
3. Protest, protest protest.

Yaar moderator- it’s not trollish to have a different opinion than you do. Or to express a negative opinion about a VC of an NLU. If folks can bash Sudhir and Raj Kumar all day long and gossipmonger and act as conspiracy theorists about every thing they do. It’s only fair to allow folks to say their piece about FM.
He’s not a god. He’s not flawless. Yet you discredit and hide any comment that is the least bit critical. Really- explain that to me? I’m not trolling I’m
Genuinely asking you for an answer. FM taught me in classes. I’ve known the man in some close quarters. I have seen how he runs the university for a few years now. And yet I can’t say a thing about him that’s not glowing praise about how much we all love him without any reference to substantial things to things he’s actually done?

Tell us what the rules are with respect to FM.
What makes you mark so many comments as trollish? What makes you not publish so many comments ? What should users avoid so their comment gets published?

It is impossible for NALSAR to be regarded as a national institution. In the NLSIU case, the Karnataka High Court clearly said that one of the factors why the college is a national institution is that the Chancellor is the Chief Justice of India. But for NALSAR the Chancellor is the Chief Justice of Telangana.

His options are limited now. Let's see:

- Teaching abroad: He does not have tier 1 publications or a foreign degree, so difficult

- Joining politics, going to whichever party that is willing to offer him a Rajya Sabha ticket: Very possible. How about AAP?

- Joining another NLU as VC: Possible, but most only in a non-BJP state. Maybe NLUJ or NUJS?

- Joining Jindal as Distinguished Professor, like Chimni, Baxi and BB Pande: Possible, but most likely a temporary place until he finds something better.

I agree, a serious analysis of Faizan's time in NALSAR is merited. The way I see it, the only clear positive of his tenure was the stability. He also introduced a largely certain path to permanent positions for new faculty (be contractual for a few years, then recruit full time). But beyond that, he was just a self-promoter through and through. I mean the Youtube channel was the pits - how could a VC of a purported national-level institution descend to this.

Yeah when the best thing you can say about someone’s work is that they stayed out of the way and let someone else do as they pleased- that’s not a sign of real hard work and progress.
Nalsar seems to have gotten complacent and stagnant over the last few years. Folks are always asking if potential VCs can be “good administrators” as if navigating small interpersonal problems among students and faculty is more important than knowing what a university is supposed to do and being a proper academic with a proper vision for the university.

Your registrar is supposed to be the person handling late passes and disciplinary problems. The VC is the leader of faculty- his job is to elevate the universities academic output.

so one of my classes was taught by FM. he never turned up. the class did not meet once the entire term. the TAs tried a little [...]. he did project presentations at the end and gave us all Os and Ds. that's what he means when he says "caring for kids" not educating them, more just give them a sop so they wont call you out. this man is an academic? really?a great loss for the institution?

If he joins politics, he has the following options:

Congress
AAP
TMC
TRS
Samajwadi
BSP
RJD
AIMIM

The Congress is full of good lawyers who already have Rajya Sabha seats, so I would go with either AAP, Samajwadi or TMC. Any Rajya Sabha vacancies coming up for them?

Faizan’s tenure was highly problematic. It requires introspection. Serious introspection.. I am an insider so I have some information to which outsiders are not privy to. Firstly, Faizan till the last day expected that he will get the third term.. he did not vacate office. He was given an extension for four months so he very well knew that July 31st was his last day. It was simply because he was expecting, hoping, urging and begging for a miracle that he held onto his office. As a matter of fact, he hasn’t vacated his house. He was on lien for 17 years. He joined Aligarh for a day and then again got a leave and is still staying in Nalsar. Second, Faizan has hired more than 4 chefs and 4 drivers. It seems that this is the only criteria on which Nalsar has improved. NALSAR fell on NIRF simply because of two people. One destroyed its general discipline and the other ruined academic discipline. Faizan single handedly took to the alter of sacrifice NALSAR’s heritage. I know this as I have survived Nalsar under previous administrations. Third, students support was something that is integral to Faizan’s reign. This had reasons. Under Faizan the broader understanding of student(ing) has been zero restrictions. There is free ingress and outflow within the boys and the girls hostels. Guards were specifically told not to interfere. Students were ‘bought’! Condoms and weed became the order of the day. There was no regard for minimum attendance requirements. Faizan made sure that students never faced consequence for anything. He operated like the Shaheshah of Shamirpet. Recently there were complains of vandalism against individuals of 2022 batch and also against the residents of the boys hostel. All got ease out because of his ‘dream’ of getting the third term. Fourth, with regards to faculties. This is a highly problematic issue. Let’s be honest, under Faizan’s rule most faculties have left. However, people have tried to frame it as if they have left because his holiness is likely to leave. Fifth, faculties were never provided service rules. Social sciences people were not given their phd increments till the formation of the search committee. One fellow was kept as an ad hoc for more than a decade. On the other hand, there is this one whose application was added physically after the date of advertisement because she didn’t have the basic requirements. Another had sent a detailed complaint to the then chancellor after resigning. Sixth, Faizan took nalsar to be a trampoline. A ramp for achieving greatness. Whether he’d be great or not.. time will tell.. legacy only bothers the weak. [...] NALSAR would do well without Faizan. His time is up and it is time for new ideas. People should learn from their mistakes.. they should not keep quite in future cases of employer staged oppression. Students should know what to look for in a VC. And people who staged the entire Telegu vs. Non-Telegu should know this that it is because of the fact that Telegu people are telegu that Faizan survived for 10 long years. He wouldn’t have been able to pull this off had this been any other state. Telegu people never wanted him out. The way he treated them.. [...] we had not option to fight back.

This is a fact. He was toooo student-friendly. Boys breaking into girls' hostel rooms is an open-secret and used to happen very frequently during his tenure. No matter how 'open' a given NLUs' admin, girls hostel's safety and integrity is where everyone draws the line but not NALSAR under Faizan.

Everything aside, the problem lies with you if you think that preventing boys from entering the girls' hostel would make the University safe. Boys and girls share the same campus and are constantly in shared spaces. Educating and teaching guys is what is necessary. Campuses with shared hostels exist. So do campuses with well-separated hostels that still have a major harassment problem.

Shared hostel implies that all the inhabitants have consented to the presence of each other. When you have segregated hostels and you still turn a blind eye to such trespassing, you are definitely making the campus a less safe place for the inhabitants who never agreed to it. The fact that harassment occurs even otherwise has got no bearing on this matter. When hostels are separated and students still get caught out of bounds, then they should be sanctioned. That should not be the only priority of the admin, but it certainly cannot be ignored either.

Yes. But then the change in rules should be publicly notified. I’m all for gender neutral hostels and co living paces . But to not do it properly- to do it through this method of don’t ask don’t tell unwritten university policy, allows for a lot of shady behaviour to pass. And allows for a lot of people to slip through the cracks. And it makes FM seem progressive without him actually taking a progressive stance.

My juniors were telling me how pro Faizan faculty views the NIRF downfall as central govt's agenda against Faizan. The victim-complex is very biggg.

Rumor has it, Faizan has applied for a third term(don't know if it's even possible to do it) which is why he is still staying on Campus.

"My juniors were telling me how pro Faizan faculty views the NIRF downfall as central govt's agenda against Faizan. The victim-complex is very biggg."

The Vice-Chancellor of RGNUL authored a piece in The Hindu today, talking about how the NIRF rankings were not transparent, faulty and not verified.

Does he suffer from a 'victim complex' as well?

Not ready to accept an unsound ranking for what it is, are we?

Too bored today so let's do this.

As an ex-student of NALSAR, here's my reading of FM's administration style. There's no reason why a man in his 60s who is Conservative enough to oppose criminalization of TT(Table Tennis and not Triple Talaq) would be forthcoming on issues like gender-neutral toilets, dating/open daaru parties on campus/"unofficial" designated areas within campus for smoking joint. His admin style is very student-friendly and I think it is not by chance but by design and very calculated. Man knows not to be bothered by issues that do not matter to him or his community personally+ allows him to portray a liberal image while actually being Conservative on issues that really matter to him. A faction of his faculty swears by him but the other one obviously has been demanding a change for some time now. The man has broken up with girls on behalf of their boyfriends for crying-out-loud!! He has crafted an approachable and student-friendly image with great efforts. Give him credit for that.

Moderator ji, publish kardena, there's nothing malafide or trollish here.

Latest update on the consequences . "NALSAR exodus: 8 faculty resign in one semester in Hyderabad"

Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/94773673.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst