W
Sections of the Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs) across India have strongly reacted to the decision to censure
According to Poruthiyil, “Though the ostensible reason for the censure order is his environmental activism, an underlying subtext of this censure is his campaign for social diversity among the faculty of the IIMs. Deepak’s research exposed that of the 512 faculty members in all IIMs combined; only two belong to the Scheduled Caste category. He has also been campaigning for the desegregation of the vegetarian and non-vegetarian sections of the canteens in the IIM-B.”
Continues Poruthiyil, “Deepak’s relentless campaign, which inevitably led to his ostracism from the majority of the IIM faculty network, has been successful to a degree — IIM-B has recently started a scholarship program for doctoral candidates belonging to underprivileged castes.”
Following Poruthiyil plea, the Human Rights and Business Network of India (HRBN-I) has created a petition in support of
Pointing out
HRBN-I adds, “This issue is disheartening because it exposes once again the narrowing of spaces for critical research in Indian
Text of the draft petition:
The Human Rights and Business Network is a coalition of academics, civil society activists, journalists, and indigenous groups created to defend the human rights of precarious communities in India. Due to the nature of its work, the HRBN is acutely aware of the rapidly decreasing spaces to discuss and debate development trajectories premised on the denial of human rights of the weaker and voiceless sections in India.
Given the already bleak context, we are alarmed at the recent actions taken by the administration of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) to censure Deepak Malghan, an assistant professor in the institute.
The trigger for IIMB’s actions is ostensibly
Even a student would know evoking stakeholder interests cannot ignore the weaker entities affected by an organization’s actions. In a stunning display of partisanship, IIMB has chosen to prioritize the interests of its most privileged stakeholders while reprimanding Dr. Malghan for seeking to defend the interests of the communities that, being a public-funded institution, IIM-B has a duty to defend.
It is expected of corporations to curtail voices of individuals and groups who consistently expose corporate hypocrisies. Tactics for suppressing critiques from within the academia may include threatening administrations with
An administration with moral and intellectual spine would have withstood such pressures and reaffirmed the importance of the free exchange of ideas for research and teaching. Instead, IIM-B’s decision to censure Dr Malghan is a shocking display of submission to corporate bullying.
This meekness is a symptom of an affliction by a malaise known to infect business schools in general – the substitution of “higher aims”, in this
We request the Board of Governors at IIM-B to reverse the decision to censure
January 13, 2019 at 7:05 pm
The civil society and activists have come forward to express solidarity with the orofessor. This is a welcome step