Today the Jindal VC sent a long mail announcing the launch of the Jindal India Institute on public Day. He said: "I wish to emphasise that JII will not be dependent on any Indian political party or faction. It will be non-partisan in terms of its affiliations with corporate houses and foreign partners."
- Director of JII is Prof Sreeram Chaulia. A known BJP supporter who has written pro-Modi books and comes on Republic TV. The website landing page even has photos of Chaulia with BJP ministers Jaishankar and Hardeep Puri.
- Advisory board has Salvatore Babones. Again, a known Modi supporter who comes on TV and supports Modi. Also important are the omissions. No Ramachandra Guha, Gilles Verniers, Christopher Jaffrelot, Jean Dreze, Jayati Ghose, Nivedita Menon, Siddharth Vardarajan, N Ram etc.
- The vision statement of JII says: " JII is meant to intellectually decolonise the study and depiction of India. Today, while India is fiercely independent and protective of its strategic autonomy, there is still a tendency among many to look up to Western educational institutions for intellectual affirmation, approval and disapproval of what India is and where it is heading. JII aims to break the intellectual hegemony of India being other-defined and usher in a culture and practice of high-quality research, analysis, policy advocacy and trainings that enable a self-defined and self-confident India to emerge as a world leader."
This seems to be coded RW rhetoric. One of the BJP's biggest taking points is that there is a "colonial" bias against India exhibited by both the West and Indian intellectuals. The "decolonisation" rhetoric has found its way in J Sai Deepak and Arghya Sengupta's books.
Note also the talk about India being a world leader etc. No talk about problems facing India and criticisms of the Modi government.
Also, this comes amidst a series of questionable acts at Jindal, such as disciplinary action against Prof Sameena Dalwai, writing a letter criticising Prof Achin Vanaik and expanding in STEM subjects rather than social sciences.
That's the point. Educated people know better than to pigeonhole disciplines like that. Whether you are one is for you to figure out by yourself, of course.
Um...ok. But this is what the website shows:
https://jii.jgu.edu.in/
- Director of JII is Prof Sreeram Chaulia. A known BJP supporter who has written pro-Modi books and comes on Republic TV. The website landing page even has photos of Chaulia with BJP ministers Jaishankar and Hardeep Puri.
- Advisory board has Salvatore Babones. Again, a known Modi supporter who comes on TV and supports Modi. Also important are the omissions. No Ramachandra Guha, Gilles Verniers, Christopher Jaffrelot, Jean Dreze, Jayati Ghose, Nivedita Menon, Siddharth Vardarajan, N Ram etc.
- The vision statement of JII says: " JII is meant to intellectually decolonise the study and depiction of India. Today, while India is fiercely independent and protective of its strategic autonomy, there is still a tendency among many to look up to Western educational institutions for intellectual affirmation, approval and disapproval of what India is and where it is heading. JII aims to break the intellectual hegemony of India being other-defined and usher in a culture and practice of high-quality research, analysis, policy advocacy and trainings that enable a self-defined and self-confident India to emerge as a world leader."
This seems to be coded RW rhetoric. One of the BJP's biggest taking points is that there is a "colonial" bias against India exhibited by both the West and Indian intellectuals. The "decolonisation" rhetoric has found its way in J Sai Deepak and Arghya Sengupta's books.
Note also the talk about India being a world leader etc. No talk about problems facing India and criticisms of the Modi government.
Also, this comes amidst a series of questionable acts at Jindal, such as disciplinary action against Prof Sameena Dalwai, writing a letter criticising Prof Achin Vanaik and expanding in STEM subjects rather than social sciences.