Et tu Ashoka?

A pioneer in liberal education takes a hard knock

The controversy caused by the resignation of Professors Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Arvind Subramanian from Ashoka University, a liberal arts institution that aims to promote critical thinking, highlights the shrinking space for freedom of expression in India — even for an establishment that is backed by private capital. Though the precise details of Dr Mehta’s exit are unclear, it is evident from his resignation letter that his forthright commentary on government policy, upholding the same values that the university champions through its academics, had become a cause of acute discomfort for some of the university’s founders. Many of them represent