The caption below reads ‘The government of Bihar has extended its full support’. The image is hyperlinked but clicking on it leads to a blank webpage marked ‘Not Found’. There is separate page on the site dedicated to CM’s message which hosts an image of the CM Nitish Kumar but reads, “We are in the process of updating the site”. The site has indeed been updated more than once since its launch, but still it’s no show for the message from the Bihar CM.

The speeches of Prof. Amartya Sen and Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam (delivered at Bihar Legislative Assembly on March 28, 2006) are available. The latter was surely been made available by the Bihar Government. It antedates the arrival of the Nalanda Mentor Group and Dr. Gopa Sabharwal, VC-designate on the scene.

But why Bihar CM’s message goes missing is a matter of speculation. There is no credible reason why a message should be unavailable to Nalanda University. The website was launched earlier this month in the aftermath of the controversy over irregularities in the University. Bihar Times consistently highlighted the arbitrariness and irregularities in the University. CM Nitish Kumar tried to distance himself from the project as soon as the controversy broke out in the first week of September. It was unlikely that in the aftermath of the exposé, the Bihar CM would put down his support on a piece of paper. That perhaps explains why he has refrained from sending any goodwill message. The University seems to be at a disadvantage to use any old message from the CM. It seems either there was none, or the CM has categorically refused to be cited on the website of a discredited University.

Readers should watch the space CM’s message. It is, however, most like to go vacant.

Comment

comments...