Appeal to set up an enquiry into termination of Dr Sandeep Pandey’s teaching contract by IIT BHU

The premature termination of contract of Dr Sandeep Pandey from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Banaras Hindu University (BHU) on charge of being 'pro-Naxal' and 'anti-national' is a shameful episode. It is yet another instance both of intolerance shown by the present government to opposing ideas and of saffronization of education in India.

Dr Sandeep Pandey, a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, USA, and former faculty member of IIT Kanpur, is a Magsaysay awardee and an eminent social activist with Gandhian socialist convictions. He has been working for development justice and rights of various underprivileged sections of our society for more than two decades. He has been a visiting faculty at IIT-BHU for the past 2.5 years with the departments of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering.

His courses, pedagogical methods and lifestyle reforms have earned him respect and love of IIT students at BHU in the last 2.5 years. His innovative pedagogy at IIT-BHU received international attention when he was recently invited by Princeton-based Educational Testing Service to introduce his ‘One-to-one interactive non-competitive’ evaluation method.

The charges against him of being ‘pro-Naxal’ and ‘anti-national’ are baseless as he has consistently adopted peaceful means and democratic channels to pursue social work and activism. Another charge against him of showing a banned documentary on Nirbhaya by BBC in his class is false as the said documentary was not shown after the intervention of Chief Proctor of BHU and SO of Lanka police station, a fact that could be verified from the students.

We believe that removal of Dr Pandey for extra-academic reasons is a grave error of judgment on the part of BHU authorities. Dr Pandey was following a centenary old call of Gandhiji who had urged in his historical BHU Foundation Ceremony speech to be concerned with the masses for their betterment.

We request you, as a ‘Visitor’ of BHU, to set up an enquiry about his unilateral removal as it is open abuse of power on ideological and non-academic grounds against a much needed and appreciated teacher and uphold Gandhi-Malaviya-Narendra Dev legacy of this prestigious Institute.

This petition is endorsed by:

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT:

Dharamveer Gandhi, M.P. Lok Sabha

Ali Anwar, M.P. Rajya Sabha

Harivansh, M.P. Rajya Sabha

ACADEMICIANS:

Dr A K Mukherjee, Professor, Dept. of Chemistry, IIT BHU, Varanasi

Dr R K Mandal, Professor, Metallurgical Engineering, IIT-BHU, Varanasi

Dr Prashant Shukla, Associate Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, IIT BHU, Varanasi

Dr A S K Sinha, Professor, Dept of Chemical Engineering, IIT BHU, Varanasi

Dr M. P. Singh, Professor, Dept. of Law, BHU, Varanasi

Dr Binda D Paranjape, Professor, Department of History, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi

Dr Pramod Bagde, Professor, Dept. of Philosophy, BHU, Varanasi

Dhrub Kumar, Assistant Professor, Dept. of History, BHU, Varanasi

Dr Tabir Kalam, Faculty, Dept. of History, BHU, Varanasi

Prof Balraj Pandey, Poet and Former Head, Dept. of Hindi, BHU, Varanasi

Prof Chauthiram Yadav, Eminent Writen and Former (Retd) Head, Dept. of Hindi, BHU, Varanasi

Prof M P Singh, Secretary of Janvadi Lekhak Sangh, Varanasi

Dr Shahina Rizvi, Professor and Head (Retd.), Dept. of Urdu, Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi

Prof Anil Upadhyay, Head, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi

Dr Niranjan Sahay, Associate Professor, Dept. of Hindi, Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi

Dr Anurag Kumar, Associate Professor, Dept. of Hindi, Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi

Dr Surendra Pratap Singh, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Hindi, Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi

Dr Gorakhnath Pandey, Faculty, Dept. of Hindi, UP College, Varanasi

Dr Rahul Varman, Professor and Head, Dept. of Industrial Management and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur

Dr Suchitra Mathur, Faculty, Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur

Dr Deepak Gupta, Professor, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur

Dr P R K Rao, Former (Retd) Professor, Dept of Electrical Engineering, IIT Kanpur

Dr Dipankar, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Bombay, Mumbai

Dr Raja Mohanty, Professor, Industrial Design Centre, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Bombay, Mumbai

Dr Supratik Chakraborty, Professor, Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay, Mumbai

Dr Om Damani, Professor, Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay, Mumbai

Dr Shishir Jha, Professor, School of Management, IIT Bombay, Mumbai

Dr Naresh K. Chandiramani, Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Bombay, Mumbai

Dr Anand Teltumbde, Professor of Management, IIT, Kharagpur

Dr Manmohan Pandey, Professor, Dept of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Guwahati

Dr Sumeet Agarwal, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, IIT Delhi, Delhi 

Prof Anand Kumar, former Professor of Sociology, JNU

Prof Dr Amita Baviskar, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi

​Dr Himanshu​ Pandey​, Associate Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University

​​Dr Dipa Sinha, Assistant Professor, Ambedkar University Delhi

Dr Shiva Shankar, Professor at Chennai Mathematical Institute, Chennai

Dr Venu Madhav Govindu, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru

Prof Amit Bhaduri - Prof (Of' Clear fame) at Pavia University Italy and CSD New Delhi

Prof Kamal Mitra Chenoy - Delhi University

Prof Nadini Sunder - Delhi University

Dr Meghna Pansare - Assistant Professor - Shivaji University

Dr Suresh Devasahayam, Professor of Bioengineering, Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore

Dr Achin Vanaik (Retired Professor and Former Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Delhi)

Dr Vidyanand Jha, Professor, Behavioural Sciences, IIM Calcutta, Kolkata

Dr Meher Engineer, West Bengal, Chairperson, AIFRTE; Ex-President, Indian Academy of Social Science; Kolkata

Prof Wasi Ahmed, Bihar, Former Joint Secretary, AIFUCTO; Patna

Prof G. Haragopal, Andhra Pradesh, National Fellow, ICSSR; TISS, Hyderabad

Prof Madhu Prasad, Delhi, formerly Dept. of Philosophy, Zakir Husain College, Delhi University

Prof Anil Sadgopal, Former Dean, Faculty of Education, Delhi University

Prof K. Chakradhar Rao, Telengana, Dept. of Economics, Osmania University, Hyderabad

Prof K. M. Shrimali, Delhi, Formerly Dept. of History, Delhi University

Pamela Philipose, Senior Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research

Dr Rohit Varman, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) - Calcutta, Kolkata

Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy, Nuclear Physicist, Lahore

Dr Zia Mian, Physicist and Nuclear Policy Expert, Princeton University, USA

Dr William Gould, Professor of Indian History, School of History, University of Leeds, UK

Dr M V Ramana, Physicist, Princeton University, USA

Dr Ramayan Ram, Member of Jan Sanskiti Manch and Faculty member, Govt. Degree College, Lalitpur

Prof Mukul Manglik, Ramjas College, Delhi

EMINENT CITIZENS and SOCIAL ACTIVISTS:

Justice (retd) Rajinder Sachar, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court

Admiral L Ramdas, former Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy

Madhu Bhaduri India's former ambassador to Belarus, Lithuania, and Portugal

Medha Patkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan and the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)

Swami Agnivesh, Arya Samaj scholar, social activist and former Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA)

Anand Patwardhan, documentary film-maker

Vrinda Grover, senior advocate and human rights activist

Subhashini Ali, ex-MP member Polit Bureau CPI(M)

Yogendra Yadav, Swaraj Abhiyan leader, psephologist, and academic

Prashant Bhushan, Swaraj Abhiyan leader, senior lawyer, and human rights activist

Nandita Das, film actor, director, and activist

Lalita Ramdas, former Chairperson of Greenpeace International and a founding member of Greenpeace India, former President of International Council for Adult Education

Dr Ram Puniyani, former Professor of Biomedical Engineering at IITBombay, human rights activist associated with All-India Secular Forum, 2006 recipient of Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration

Richa Singh, President, Allahabad University Students Union, Allahabad

Harsh Mander, Director of Center for Equity Studies, social worker and Special Commissioner to the Supreme Court on Right to Food case

Dr Bhalchandra Kango, CPI leader

Prafulla Samantara, Lok Shakti Abhiyan

Lingraj Azad – Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, NAPM, Odisha;

Dr Sunilam, Aradhna Bhargava - Kisan Sangharsh Samiti

Meera – Narmada Bachao Andolan, NAPM, MP;

Suniti SR, Suhas Kolhekar, Prasad Bagwe - NAPM, Maharashtra;

Gabriele Dietrich, Geetha Ramakrishnan – Unorganised Sector Workers Federation, NAPM, TN;

C R Neelkandan – NAPM Kerala;

P Chennaiah & Ramakrishnan Raju – NAPM Andhra Pradesh,

Arundhati Dhuru, Richa Singh - NAPM, UP;

Sister Celia - Domestic Workers Union

Rukmini VP, Garment Labour Union, NAPM, Karnataka;

Vimal Bhai - Matu Jan Sangathan

Jabar Singh, NAPM, Uttarakhand;

Anand Mazgaonkar, Krishnakant - Paryavaran Suraksh Samiti, NAPM Gujarat;

Kamayani Swami, Ashish Ranjan – Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan

Mahendra Yadav – Kosi Navnirman Manch, NAPM Bihar;

Faisal Khan, Khudai Khidmatgar,

JS Walia, NAPM Haryana;

Kailash Meena, NAPM Rajasthan;

Amitava Mitra and Sujato Bhadra, NAPM West Bengal;

B S Rawat – Jan Sangharsh Vahini

Rajendra Ravi, Madhuresh Kumar and Shabnam Shaikh – NAPM, Delhi,

Brother Varghese and Subhash Lomate, Jai Kisan Andolan 

Vandana Mishra from People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), UP

Leo Saldanha, Coordinator, Environment Support Group (ESG), Bangalore

Nityanand Jayaraman, Vettiver Collective, Chennai

Kalyani Menon Sen--Feminist Learnings

Sarma E. A. S., Former Secretary, Government of India

Sri Prabhakar Arade, Maharashtra, President, AIFETO; Kolhapur

Manoj Singh, Filmmaker, Journalist and Rashtriya Sangathan Sachiv of Jan Sanskriti Manch, Gorakhpur

Dr Sanjay Srivastava, Cultural Activist and General Secretary (U.P.) of Pragatisheel Lekhak Sangh, Varanasi

Dr Muniza Rafiq Khan, Social Activist, Gandhian Studies Centre, Varanasi

Romi Mahajan, KKM Group