Appeal to enquire into termination of Dr Sandeep Pandey's teaching contract by IIT-BHU
Appeal to enquire into termination of Dr Sandeep Pandey's teaching contract by IIT-BHU
Why this petition matters
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
Victory
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Decision Makers
- Honorable President Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Republic of India