Urging the chief minister to intervene into the matter they, through, an open letter, regretted that Bihari academics, especially historians, were ignored in the process of appointment of VC as well as formation of the Governing Council (erstwhile Nalanda Mentor Group).

According to the letter “there is no dearth of academics in Bihar. The state’s young and energetic teachers and educationists are competent enough to perform in any situation. Moreover the basic criterion for appointment of the VC, as suggested by NMG, is that the person should be conscious of Bihar’s problems and concerns. How can be a person from outside be involved with the concerns of Bihar?” the letter asked.
Expressing surprise the letter further said that it is ironical that while Nitish has always hailed the Bihari talent, the NMG could not find one Bihari to head the NIU. It is a million-dollar question why the NMG does not have even a single scholar from Bihar, particularly of history, when the university is supposed to revive the past glory of Bihar.
The signatories to the letter included Prof Padmalata Thakur, Daisy Banerjee and Jayshree Mishra of History Department, Patna University; Prof Poonam Choudhary of Arvind Mahila College’s Department of History, Sunita Sharma of BD College’s Department of History, Neelam Dwivedi of Ganga Devi Mahila College's Department of History and Retired Professors Usha Kiran Khan and Shaileshwar Sati Prasad.
Prof Shankar Ashish Dutt of Department of English, Patna College and Asha Singh of Magadh Mahila College's Department of Economics have also flayed the appointment of Sabharwal as VC.
Incidentally Dutt and Singh were recently adjudged the best teachers of Patna University.
As reported earlier Prof D N Jha, twice Head of Department of History in Delhi University, who is originally from Bihar, was unceremoniously dropped from NMG way back in 2007. He is considered as an authority in Ancient Indian History.

Comment

comments...

I am extremely surprised to see that it is mostly women professors of history who find Dr Gopa Sabharwal's appointment objectionable. Patna University has had renowned historians as members of its faculty such as Jadunath Sarkar, and many others. What has happened to the historians who were mostly males when I visited the university not long back?

Nalanda University was a leading university in the world teaching wide variety of subjects including sciences. It looks like only history or Buddhism seems to be in the minds of people these days. There is an I. I. T. at Patna whose faculty members are well qualified if Dr Gopa Sabharwal can qualify.

Anand M. Sharan, Canada