SAU profs’ suspension: Student body calls for protest at MEA building

Delhi’s South Asian University suspended four faculty members on “allegations of misconduct” .

All India Student Association (AISA), the student unit of Delhi University (DU), has called for a protest at the Ministry of External Affairs building against the suspension of four professors of South Asian University (SAU), The Indian Express reported. 

A statement issued by AISA stated, “While four teachers of SAU face suspension for the crime of standing with democracy on campus, it has come to our notice that a teacher who is accused of sexual harassment by a student is not only protected, but promoted in the South Asian University.” 

It further stated: “In the recent months, SAU has shown extreme insensitivity towards the needs and demand of the student community and the sheer impunity given to a sexual harassment accused adds further to the woes of a university which claims a world status for itself. Why does the Ministry of External Affairs, which is an equal stakeholder in SAU, remain silent on an issue as serious as sexual harassment?”  

On June 21, the SAU suspended four faculty members, citing “misconduct”, after issuing show-cause notices, which accused them of “inciting students against… the interest of the University” in violation of the university’s code of conduct. This action followed months of student protests last year against the reduction of monthly stipends for Master’s students.  

The faculty members who have been suspended are Dr Snehashish Bhattacharya from the Faculty of Economics, Dr Srinivas Burra from the Faculty of Legal Studies, Dr Irfanullah Farooqi from the Faculty of Social Sciences, and Dr Ravi Kumar from the Faculty of Social Sciences.  

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