New Delhi: It began as a unique academic project to build a South Asian community of learners. But 14 years down the road, the ambitious South Asian University (SAU) is struggling to live up to its original dream.
A recent controversy at the Delhi-based university over a student citing American linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky’s criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his research proposal and the subsequent retirement of a foreign professor has sparked severe criticism of the university for allegedly interfering with academic freedom.
The incident is the latest flashpoint at the regional university envisioned by former prime minister Manmohan Singh to offer “world-class facilities” to students and researchers from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries.
Since its establishment in 2010, SAU has been plagued with many challenges from acquiring land for a permanent campus and getting funding from stakeholders to student protests and geopolitical tensions.
Moreover, the university has lost its South Asian character with the number of students from other SAARC nations dwindling significantly.
It may be floundering today, but experts say the university was a unique academic project.
“It was an ambitious initiative, and we all believed it was a groundbreaking effort to bring together the eight SAARC countries with stakes in a single institution,” a senior professor, who has a longstanding association with SAU, told ThePrint.
“Despite facing various infrastructure and financial hurdles in the beginning, we never encountered issues with academic freedom—this has only become a concern in the past two to three years,” added the professor.
Building regional academic community
The university began with a lofty vision of regional educational cooperation. Announced during the 13th SAARC summit in Dhaka in 2005, it was established five years later to bring together the brightest students from SAARC member countries—Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Originally, the university allocated 50 percent of its seats to Indian students, 40 percent to other SAARC nations and 10 percent to those from non-SAARC countries. The faculty was also supposed to include members from all eight SAARC countries.
However, students say the university with more than 900 students on its rolls lacks diversity and over the years has come to be dominated by Indian students.
The proportion of students from SAARC nations has dwindled to just 20 percent and only six of the 50 faculty members are from other SAARC countries.
The university has six departments offering postgraduate and PhD courses in Mathematics, Computer Science, Sociology, International Relations, Biotechnology and Legal Studies, among other subjects.
An international PhD student expressed disappointment that the university had failed to deliver the experience of studying with peers from SAARC countries.
“The university has increasingly become like any other Indian institution,” he said. “The South Asian representation is now merely a part of its name, with minimal presence from SAARC nations among both students and faculty.”
Geopolitical tensions are partly to blame for the change.
Although the university holds entrance exams across all SAARC nations and admits students from these countries, Pakistani students are unable to obtain visas due to deteriorating bilateral relations and Afghan students, too, facing the same situation since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021.
“The university should address this and avoid mixing politics with education,” said the PhD student.
Ashok K. Kantha, former ambassador to China, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, said while the university was initially well-regarded by most SAARC countries, excluding Pakistan, it has fallen short of its goal to nurture South Asian scholars and build a cohesive South Asian community.
“There needs to be an introspection into why the brightest minds do not find this university appealing,” he said.
Shrinking space for dissent, protest
University campuses across the world have traditionally been hotbeds of political activism and dissent. But, students and faculty at South Asian University say the space for dissent and protest has shrunk.
According to students, faculty and alumni, the university has increased control and introduced new restrictions to curb dissent since student protests in 2022 to demand higher stipends and better student representation in committees.
The protests resulted in the suspension of four faculty members and five students.
At the beginning of the last academic year, the university asked new students to sign an undertaking that they would not participate in any protests or activities that could “disturb the peace” on campus.
Students were also asked to certify that they did not have any “psychiatric or psychological disorders”.
“If students are required to sign a pledge against protesting, where is the freedom in that?” asked a PhD student.
Students say the SAU administration has increasingly restricted campus activities, including banning movie screenings and dismantling many student-run groups and societies.
“We had two very vibrant societies, including a study circle and a feminist and queer collective, which were quite active on campus. The administration eventually suspended and expelled members of these groups and gradually shut them down,” said one student.
“The university no longer allows screening of movies on campus. It looks like they don’t want student gatherings in any form.”
Threats to academic freedom
The recent controversy over the Chomsky interview reference that led to the exit of Sri Lankan professor Sasanka Perera, a founding member of the sociology department, has heightened concerns about academic freedom.
Students say it isn’t the first time. Research scholars have also been previously instructed to modify their research proposals.
Last week, a group of alumni wrote a letter to university president K.K. Aggarwal, accusing the institution of “nosediving into a void of intellectual censorship”.
Perera said changes to student research proposals by supervisors infringe on academic freedom.
He told ThePrint that students had in the past written or spoken about sensitive issues like Sri Lanka, the Myanmar military, and the Bangladesh-India border, but no one had any objections.
“However, it was because all of them were supervised by Indian colleagues and this one was supervised by a Sri Lankan. Besides, even colleagues have written about Kashmir itself, which is the bone of contention here. But then again, they are all Indian.”
He said that if this kind of “thought control” is to be instituted, the university should formally issue a list of topics that are allowed or not allowed for the faculty who supervise students.
“They should explicitly tell who we cannot quote or mention in the research proposals or papers. But right now, there is no such list in place, and if such a list exists, those of us who cannot work under such draconian, anti-intellectual and utterly backward conditions can always leave.”
But SAU president K.K. Aggarwal denied allegations of restricting academic freedom, saying the recent incident involving Professor Perera stemmed from a breach of an “inter-governmental agreement among SAARC nations”.
“The agreement explicitly prohibits actions that could harm any member nation’s interests,” he said.
“Even if the issue had been with the Pakistan prime minister, we would have taken similar action. We addressed the matter, but before our internal investigation could be completed, the professor chose to apply for voluntary retirement.”
Never-ending financial crises
The university has struggled with financial difficulties since its inception because member countries have not met their financial commitments.
Under the agreement, India was responsible for covering the full cost of constructing the university’s permanent campus in New Delhi. Member countries were to share operational costs.
India was to cover 57.49 percent of costs, Pakistan 12.9 percent, Bangladesh 8.2 percent, Sri Lanka and Nepal 4.9 percent each, and Afghanistan, Bhutan and the Maldives each contributing 3.83 percent.
However, contributions from SAARC nations gradually stopped coming.
Officials said approximately Rs 100 crore in contributions from other SAARC countries remain outstanding. And the university has depleted its corpus of around Rs 70 crore.
Experts say the university has also struggled with a leadership problem because SAARC has been virtually defunct since 2014.
“This dysfunction has complicated decision-making and funding, leading to a prolonged period without a permanent president at SAU. Without stable leadership and proper governance, the university faced significant operational challenges,” said former diplomat Kantha.
Before Aggarwal’s appointment as president in December 2023, the university operated without a permanent head for four years because geopolitical issues led to delays in convening the governing body.
A former faculty member said the initial plan was to rotate the top position among SAARC nations alphabetically.
“However, the university continued to appoint Indian presidents consecutively. This has contributed to waning interest from other SAARC countries, as they felt their representatives were not benefiting from the institution,” he said.
The university also faced setbacks in constructing its permanent campus. After operating from temporary locations for over 13 years, it moved to a sprawling 100-acre campus in Delhi’s Maidan Garhi area in January 2023.
However, more than a year later, the construction of the permanent campus is still not complete and it has no student hostels.
An international student complained about the lack of basic amenities. “We are staying in residences meant for teachers. We don’t even have essentials like mattresses, tables or chairs. We’re enduring excessive heat without coolers and have no functional washing machines.”
What does the university say?
The university says it is working with all stakeholders to resolve the financial issues.
Aggarwal told ThePrint nearly all member countries had pledged to release their outstanding payments.
“Additionally, we have proposed to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) the option of securing loans on behalf of these countries, which we will repay once we receive their payments,” he said. “Our goal is to ensure the university can continue operating… We are also focusing on rebuilding the corpus.”
The university is also considering a 30 percent increase in fees starting next year.
The administration has requested the MEA to expedite the construction of at least two hostels.
“Although hostels were part of the master plan, they have not yet been built despite phase one of the construction being completed. Housing students in staff residences is not ideal. Unfortunately, it will take time to complete the hostels,” Aggarwal said.
The SAU president acknowledged the decline in student and faculty representation from other SAARC countries, saying political issues were among the many reasons for this change.
“For example, students from Afghanistan face visa issues due to the Indian government’s non-recognition of their current government, and there are similar visa problems with Pakistan,” Aggarwal said.
“As a result, students from these countries are unable to join. However, we are welcoming students from other countries, including the Maldives, this time.”
Way forward
The question that many are now asking is: Where does the university go from here?
Experts say it is in a limbo when it’s neither completely South Asian nor Indian. Some experts recommend the university should withdraw from the SAARC mandate and India should take full responsibility, but the institute should retain its South Asian character.
A former diplomat with experience in SAARC noted that many member countries were neither engaged nor interested in South Asian University from the outset.
“Nevertheless, India has carried out most of the essential work, securing land, developing infrastructure, and establishing the university. Moving forward, steps need to be taken to ensure it retains its regional character and does not lose its core purpose,” said the retired diplomat.
The official suggested the government might consider removing the university from the SAARC charter and instead seek voluntary collaborations with other countries, similar to the approach taken with Nalanda University.
“We should focus on maintaining its regional character. If the SAARC isn’t fulfilling its role, let’s engage other nations.”
Former diplomat Kantha emphasised that the university ultimately falls under India’s jurisdiction and responsibility.
“India must take full ownership, provide necessary funding, and involve various stakeholders. There must be efforts to attract top international faculty and a commitment to upholding intellectual freedom and openness,” he stated.
Sanjay Baru, media advisor and chief spokesperson to former prime minister Manmohan Singh from 2004 to 2008, suggests the university appoint a globally recognised leader.
“The idea was excellent but poorly implemented. The university should not have appointed an Indian as the first president,” Baru told ThePrint.
“Instead, they should have chosen a well-regarded South Asian from a smaller country. Additionally, the university’s operations became overly bureaucratic, which undermined confidence among neighboring countries.”
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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Unfortunate. Continue to believe that the revival of SAARC would serve India’s national interests. More so in light of recent developments, not just in Bangladesh.