The American Historical Association (AHA) has written a letter to the Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, discouraging the university's plan to review historian Romila Thapar's status at the educational institution as an emeritus professor.
In September 2019, JNU had asked Thapar to submit her CV for them to decide if she should continue as professor emerita.
The president of the AHA, John McNeill wrote the letter on 7 October, citing Thapar’s credentials and her contributions and achievements to the field of history. He also cited her position as an AHA Honorary Foreign Member.
The AHA is the largest association of professional historians in the world, with over 12,000 members, according to the letter by McNeill.
In his communication with Kumar, McNeill wrote that Thapar is "a distinguished scholar, deeply respected by historians on many continents" and that keeping in mind her "extraordinary record of scholarly achievement", the Association saw no reason to review her position.
The group also expressed its concern of the university's plan on Twitter.
Re-Evaluation ‘Politically Motivated’
In September, in midst of the row when she was asked to submit her CV to JNU, Thapar had said that the re-evaluation is not called for and that the university’s motive was not hard to guess.
“To re-evaluate the academic work of an emeritus professor shows no understanding of what is meant by the category called an emeritus professor. It is a status conferred by the university on a retired professor to honour the life-time academic achievements of that person. It is acknowledging existing achievements and is not concerned with future work,” she said, speaking to The Quint.
Apart from Thapar, other professor emeriti like sociologist TK Oommen had also received letters from the JNU registrar asking for their CVs, according to reports.
The JNU Teachers' Association (JNUTA) has called the administration’s move "politically motivated" after the university defended its actions citing standard procedure, PTI had reported.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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