New Delhi: The Telegraph in a story on the front page titled ‘Academics, Opposition MPs shocked over reports of Intelligence Bureau visit to Ashoka University’ quotes Dr Jayati Ghosh, economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the US, as telling them, “We have now gone beyond the absurd.”Ashoka’s governing body initiated an inquiry on the paper, writes The Telegraph. Das’s senior colleague Pulapre Balakrishnan quit, and said he did so because “academic freedom was violated in the response” of Ashoka University to Das’s paper.The Wire yesterday reported that the Intelligence Bureau has begun looking into the scholarly paper by a former Ashoka University professor on ‘Democratic Backsliding in the World’s Largest Democracy’ and is seeking to interview the author and faculty members of the economics department on the subject.Mridula Mukherjee, former director of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library and former chairperson of the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Centre for Historical Studies, is cited as telling The Telegraph newspaper, “If The Wire’s story is true, it is a very sad situation because this will have a chilling effect on young scholars pursuing independent research. How will we attract bright young minds to academics in India?”Congress MP and former union minister Jairam Ramesh said, “By sending the Intelligence Bureau after an academic in a premier private university — for analysing with evidence democratic backsliding in India — the Modi government is only proving the point about Murder of Democracy in India. Truly unprecedented!”Rashtriya Janata Dal Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha wrote on X: “‘Third Reich’ is back in such proximate corridors. And that too at a time when we have gone for the tagline — ‘Mother’ of ‘Democracy’ hosts G20…. Jai Hind Intelligence Bureau at Ashoka University, Wants to Probe ‘Democratic Backsliding’ Paper.”Trinamool MP Jawhar Sircar said: “Is BJP worried that cat is out of the bag? Otherwise, why would almighty Intelligence Bureau descend on Ashoka University — to grill Dr S Das. He was made to quit as his advanced econometric techniques revealed that all was not well in 2019 elections!”MPs Karti Chidambaram and Abhishek Manu Singhvi and author Amitav Ghosh were amongst others who expressed outrage and shock at spooks investigating research papers.You may agree or disagree with the merits of the paper but a nation that already has a dearth of primary data & research cannot afford hounding of academics by IB.https://t.co/Ao53unVUnJ— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) August 23, 2023The Tribune reported on the matter and cited sources in the university telling the newspaper that the team comprised two-three members and their aim was to ascertain “whether the now-controversial research paper “Democratic Backsliding in the World’s Largest Democracy” by Dr Sabyasachi Das, an assistant professor, was his stand-alone effort or written keeping the university management in the loop.”Sources also told The Tribune that the team, which visited the campus yesterday as well, “interacted with the faculty of the Economics Department, of which Das was a part before his resignation was accepted”. Sources are cited by the newspaper to also say that “the team met a few students who were available on the campus and asked them about the teaching methods adopted by Das while he was part of the faculty”.The Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) in a news report titled, ‘Ashoka University: Ahead of faculty deadline, IB team comes looking for Das’, has also reported on the visit by union government sleuths to Ashoka University, a private university situated in Haryana’s Sonepat, already weathering over a storm over its treatment of a scholar in the Economics faculty over a paper he wrote on Democratic Backsliding in the World’s Largest Democracy, suggesting manipulation in the general elections to the Lok Sabha in 2019.The news agency writes, “A team from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) knocked on the doors of Ashoka University on Monday and Tuesday…. Sources on the campus confirmed to IANS that a team of IB sleuths visited the university looking for Das, whose research paper suggesting voter manipulation in the 2019 general elections triggered a row.” It adds, “However, the IB sleuths were informed by the varsity authorities that Das is on leave. The IB officials then requested to meet other faculty members in the economics department.”