On Friday, a group of marquee names from universities in the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia – including the British-Ghanaian philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah the Canadian Charles Taylor, Lee Bollinger, president of Columbia University, the Cambridge political philosopher John Dunn and Oxford international relations scholar Rosemary Foot – issued a statement of solidarity with Pratap Bhanu Mehta, who resigned as a professor of Ashok University in Haryana following a meeting with its trustees where it emerged that his writings were seen as a “political liability” for the private university and its promoters.We are reproducing the full text of the statement and list of signatories below.§A Dangerous Attack on Academic FreedomAn Open Letter to the Trustees, Administrators, and Faculty of Ashoka UniversityWe are distressed to learn of Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s resignation under political pressure from Ashoka University. A prominent critic of the current Indian government and defender of academic freedom, he had become a target for his writings.It seems that Ashoka’s Trustees, who should have treated defending him as their institutional duty, instead all but forced his resignation. As he put it in his eloquent resignation letter:“My public writing in support of a politics that tries to honour constitutional values of freedom and equal respect for all citizens is perceived to carry risks for the university.”We write in solidarity with Pratap Bhanu Mehta, and to reaffirm the importance of the values that he has always practiced. In political life, these are free argument, tolerance, and a democratic spirit of equal citizenship. In the university, they are free inquiry, candour, and a rigorous distinction between the demands of intellectual honesty and the pressure of politicians, funders, or ideological animus. These values come under assault whenever a scholar is punished for the content of public speech. When that speech is in defence of precisely these values, the assault is especially shameful.The university must be a home for fearless inquiry and criticism. We support Pratap Bhanu Mehta in his practice of the highest values of intellectual inquiry and public life.Signatories (organised alphabetically by last name):Arash Abizadeh, Professor of Political Science, McGill UniversityBruce Ackerman, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, Yale UniversitySana Aiyar, Associate Professor of History, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyDanielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor; Director, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard UniversitySunil Amrith, Renu and Anand Dhawan Professor of History, Yale UniversityKwame Anthony Appiah, Professor of Philosophy and Law, New York UniversityDavid Armitage, Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History, Harvard UniversityTimothy Garton Ash, Professor of European Studies, University of Oxford; Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford UniversityLawrie Balfour, James Hart Professor of Politics, University of VirginiaAslı Ü. Bâli, Professor of Law, UCLA School of LawEtienne Balibar, Anniversary Chair in Modern European Philosophy, Kingston UniversityMukulika Banerji, Associate Professor of Anthropology, London School of Economics and Political ScienceAmrita Basu, Paino Professor of Political Science and Sexuality, Women’s and Gender Studies, Amherst CollegeAlyssa Battistoni, Environmental Fellow, Harvard UniversityEric Beerbohm, Professor of Government; Chair, Committee on Degree in Social Studies, Harvard UniversityCharles Beitz, Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Politics, Princeton UniversityTeresa M. Bejanl Associate Professor of Political Theory, University of OxfordSeyla Benhabib, Eugene Meyer Professor of Political Science and Professor of Philosophy, Yale UniversityHomi K. Bhabha, Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of the Humanities, Departments of English and American Literature and Comparative Literature, Harvard UniversityAkeel Bilgrami, Sidney Morgenbesser Professor of Philosophy; Professor, Committee on Global Thought, Columbia UniversityLee C. Bollinger, President, Columbia UniversityRichard Bourke, Professor of the History of Political Thought, University of CambridgeCorey L Brettschneider, Professor of Political Science, Brown UniversityJedediah Britton-Purdy, William S. Beinecke Professor of Law, Columbia UniversityDavid Bromwich, Sterling Professor of English, Yale UniversityChristopher Brooke, University Senior Lecturer in Political Theory, University of CambridgeWendy Brown, Class of 1936 First Chair, Department of Political Science, University of California, BerkeleySusan Buck-Morss, Distinguished Professor of Political Philosophy, Gradudate Center, City University of New YorkJennifer Bussell, Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, University of California, BerkeleyDaniela Cammack, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of California, BerkeleyPartha Chatterjee, Senior Research Scholar in Anthropology and Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies, Columbia UniversityErwin Chemerinsky, Dean, School of Law, University of California, BerkeleyJoan Cocks, Emerita Professor of Politics, Mount Holyoke CollegeJean Cohen, Nell and Herbert M. Singer Professor of Contemporary Civilization in the Core Curriculum, Columbia UniversityJoshua Cohen, Distinguished Senior Fellow, University of California, Berkeley, Apple UniversityGreg Conti, Assistant Professor of Politics, Princeton UniversityAdi Dasgupta, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of California, MercedSandipto Dasgupta, Assistant Professor of Politics, New School for Social ResearchRohit De, Associate Professor of History, Yale UniversityFaisal Devji, Professor of Indian History, University of OxfordJoshua Foa Dienstag, Professor of Law, Shapiro Family Chair Professor of Modern Political Theory, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)Lisa Disch, Professor of Political Science, University of MichiganRosalind Dixon, Professor of Law, University of New South Wales, Co-President, International Society of Public LawJohn Dunn, Professor of Political Theory, emeritus, University of CambridgeKevin Duong, Assistant Professor of Politics, University of VirginiaCynthia Estlund, Catherine A. Rein Professor of Law, New York UniversityKate Sullivan de Estrada, Associate Professor in the International Relations of South Asia, University of OxfordMatthew Anthony Evangelista, President White Professor of History and Political Science, Cornell UniversityJohn A. Ferejohn, Samuel Tilden Professor of Law, New York UniversityMichaele Lynne Ferguson, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Colorado BoulderRosemary Foot, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of OxfordKatrina Forrester, Assistant Professor of Government and Social Studies, Harvard UniversityJason Frank, Robert J. Katz Chair of Government, Cornell UniversityJill Frank, Professor of Government, Cornell UniversityElizabeth Frazer, Fellow in Politics and University Lecturer in Politics, New College, University of OxfordMark W. Frazier, Professor of Politics, New School for Social ResearchLeela Gandhi, John Hawkes Professor of Humanities and English, Steering Committee, Center for Contemporary South Asia, Brown UniversitySumit Ganguly, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Rabindranath Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations, Indiana University, BloomingtonStephen Gardbaum, Stephen Yeazell Endowed Chair in Law, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)Bryan Garsten, Professor of Political Science and Humanities, Yale UniversityDavid Gellner, Professor of Social Anthropology, Fellow of All Souls College, University of OxfordAdom Getachew, Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Political Science and the College, University of ChicagoArunabh Ghosh, Associate Professor of History, Harvard UniversityTom Ginsburg, Leo Spitz Professor of International Law, Professor of Political Science, University of ChicagoAlex Gourevitch, Associate Professor of Political Science, Brown UniversityDavid Singh Grewal, Professor of Law, University of California, BerkeleyBérénice Guyot-Réchard, Senior Lecturer in Twentieth-Century International History, King’s College LondonBernard E. Harcourt, Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science, Columbia UniversityPatrick Heller, Lyn Cross Professor of Social Sciences, Professor of Sociology and International and Public Affairs, Brown UniversityBonnie H Honig, Nancy Duke Lewis Professor of Modern Culture and Media (MCM) and Political Science, Brown UniversityAziz Z. Huq, Frank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor of Law, University of ChicagoAndrew Hurrell, Montague Burton Professor of International Relations, Balliol College, University of OxfordSamuel Issacharoff, Bonnie and Richard Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law, New York UniversityJameel Jaffer, Executive Director, Knight First Amendment Institute, Columbia UniversityMaya Jasanoff, Coolidge Professor of History, Harvard UniversitySheila Jasanoff, Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard UniversityRob Jenkins, Professor of Political Science, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New YorkDavid C. Johnston, Professor of Political Science, Columbia UniversityShruti Kapila, Fellow, Tutor and Director of Studies, Corpus Christi College, University of CambridgeMary Fainsod Katzenstein, Milman Professor of American Studies, Cornell UniversityIra Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History, Interim Provost, Columbia UniversitySudipta Kaviraj, Professor of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies, Columbia UniversityDuncan Kelly, Professor of Political Thought and Intellectual History, University of CambridgeTarun Khaitan, Vice Dean, Faculty of Law, Professor of Public Law and Legal Theory & Hackney Fellow in Law, Wadham College, University of OxfordSharon R. Krause, William R. Kenan, Jr. University Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science, Brown UniversityCécile Laborde FBA, Nuffield Chair in Political Theory, Nuffield College, University of OxfordHélène Landemore, Associate Professor of Political Science, Yale UniversityMelissa Lane, Class of 1943 Professor of Politics & Director, University Center for Human Values, Princeton UniversityBenjamin Lee, Professor of Anthropology and Philosophy, New School for Social ResearchLawrence Lessig, Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership, Harvard Law SchoolSteve Levitsky, Professor of Government, Harvard UniversityJacob T. Levy, Tomlisnon Professor of Political Theory, McGill UniversityDarryl Li, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Social Sciences in the College, University of ChicagoStephen Macedo, Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics and the University Center for Human Values, Princeton UniversityManjari Mahajan, Associate Professor of International Affairs & Starr Professor and Co-Director of the India China Institute, New School for Social ResearchCharles S. Maier, Leverett Saltonstall Research Professor of History, Harvard UniversityMahmood Mamdani, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government, Columbia UniversityAnandi Mani, Professor of Behavioural Economics and Public Policy, Blavatnik School of Government, University of OxfordHarvey C. Mansfield, William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Government, Harvard UniversityKaruna Mantena, Professor of Political Science, Columbia UniversityPatchen Markell, Associate Professor of Government, Cornell UniversityDaniel Markovits, Guido Calabresi Professor of Law, Yale UniversityJohn P. McCormick, Professor of Political Science, University of ChicagoStephanie McCurry, R. Gordon Hoxie Professor of U.S. History, Columbia UniversityUday Singh Mehta, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Graduate Center, City University of New YorkBernadette Meyler, Carl and Sheila Spaeth Professor of Law; Associate Dean for Research and Intellectual Life, Stanford UniversityRana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China, University of Oxford; Vice-President-elect (Communications), British AcademyTariq Modood, Director, Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, Bristol UniversityGlyn Morgan, Director, Moynihan Center of European Studies, Syracuse UniversityYascha Mounk, Associate Professor of the Practice, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins UniversitySamuel Moyn, Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence, Professor of History, Yale UniversityJan-Werner Mueller, Professor of Politics, Princeton UniversityRussell Muirhead, Robert Clements Professor of Democracy and Politics, Chair, Department of Government, Dartmouth CollegeRahul Mukherji, Professor and Head, Department of Political Science, Heidelberg UniversityRani D. Mullen, Associate Professor of Government, College of William and MaryKanta Murali, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of TorontoSankar Muthu, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of ChicagoIsaac Nakhimovsky, Associate Professor of History and Humanities, Yale UniversityVipin Narang, Associate Professor of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyEric Nelson, Robert M. Beren Professor of Government, Harvard UniversityAnne Norton Stacey and Henry Jackson President’s Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of PennsylvaniaMartha C. Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, University of ChicagoAndrew Ollett, Neubauer Family Assistant Professor, South Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of ChicagoKate O’Regan, Professor of Human Rights Law, Director, Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, University of OxfordGiulia Oskian, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Yale UniversityAnthony Pagden, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)Davide Panagia, Professor of Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)Alan Patten, Howard Harrison and Gabrielle Snyder Beck Professor of Politics; Chair, Department of Politics, Princeton UniversitySusan Pedersen, Morris Professor of British History, Columbia UniversityElizabeth J. Perry, Henry Rosovsky Professor of Government; Director, Harvard-Yenching Institute, Harvard UniversityJennifer Pitts, Professor of Political Science and Social Thought, University of ChicagoGyan Prakash, Dayton-Stockton Professor of History, Princeton UniversityLant Pritchett, RISE Research Director, Blavatnik School of Government, University of OxfordHari Ramesh, College Fellow in Social Studies, Harvard UniversityAziz F. Rana, Richard and Lois Cole Professor of Law, Cornell UniversityCorey Robin, Associate Professor of Political Science, Graduate Center, City University of New YorkMichael Rosen, Senator Joseph S. Clark Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government, Harvard UniversityNancy L. Rosenblum, Senator Joseph Clark Research Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government, emerita, Harvard UniversityPoulami Roychowdhury, Assistant Professor of Sociology, McGill UniversityLucia Rubinelli, Junior Research Fellow in the History of Political Thought, Robinson College, University of CambridgeAlan Ryan FBA, Emeritus Professor of Political Theory, University of OxfordMichael J. Sandel, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government, Harvard UniversityShalini Satkunanandan, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of California, DavisCheryl Saunders, Laureate Professor Emerita of Law, University of MelbourneThomas M. Scanlon, Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity, Emeritus, Harvard UniversityMelissa Schwartzberg, Professor of Politics, New York UniversityJoan Wallach Scott, Professor Emerita, Institute for Advanced Study, PrincetonWill Selinger, Lecturer in European History, 1700-1850, University College LondonAkhil Sharma, Department of English, Duke UniversityTommie Shelby, Caldwell Titcomb Professor of African and African American Studies and of Philosophy, Harvard UniversityPrerna Singh, Mahatma Gandhi Associate Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs, Brown UniversityRogers Smith, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of PennsylvaniaSophie Smith, Associate Professor of Political Theory and Tutorial Fellow, University College, University of OxfordCarole Spary, Associate Professor, School of Politics and International Relations, Deputy Director, Asia Research Institute, University of NottinghamAmia Srinivasan, Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory, All Souls College, University of OxfordPaul Staniland, Associate Professor of Political Science; Faculty Chair, Committee on International Relations, University of ChicagoHillel Steiner FBA, Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy, University of ManchesterAnna Stilz, Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics and Human Values, Princeton UniversityGeoffrey R. Stone, Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law, University of ChicagoJohn Tasioulas, Director, Institute for Ethics in AI, Faculty of Philosophy, University of OxfordCharles Taylor, Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, McGill UniversityTariq Thachil, Director, Center for Advanced Study of India; Madan Lal Sobti Associate Professor for the Study of Contemporary India, University of PennsylvaniaLouise Tillin, Reader in Politics, King’s College LondonRichard Tuck, Frank G. Thomson Professor of Government, Harvard UniversityMaya Tudor, Associate Professor of Government and Public Policy, Blavatnik School of Government, University of OxfordJames Tully, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of VictoriaMark Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Emeritus, Harvard UniversityNadia Urbinati, Kyriakos Tsakopoulos Professor of Political Theory, Columbia UniversityMilan Vaishnav, Senior Fellow and Director, South Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International PeaceAshutosh Varshney, Director of the Center for Contemporary South Asia, Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences, Brown UniversityRajesh Veeraraghavan, Assistant Professor of Science, Technology and International Affairs, Georgetown UniversityJeremy Waldron, University Professor, New York UniversityPatrick Weil, Research Professor, University of Paris1-SorbonneStephen K. White, Professor of Political Science, Emeritus, University of VirginiaSteven Wilkinson, Nilekani Professor of India and South Asian Studies, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, Yale UniversityMelissa Williams, Professor of Political Science, Founding Director, Centre for Ethics, University of TorontoElizabeth Wingrove, Professor of Political Science, University of MichiganJianying Zha, India China Institute, New School for Social Research
