The Pretend-Liberals

THEY RUSHED TO condemn Ashoka University, accusing it of succumbing to pressure from the ruling party and for not persuading a professor from leaving. Covenanted members of the faux left-liberal ‘echo’ system recycled for the nth time old phrases about the fascist forces snuffing out academic freedom, free flow of ideas, information, etc. All to remain on the right side of the Modi government.

The usual suspects who apparently move around with a pocketful of Xerox-ed statements castigating rightwing forces inimical to a liberal order ease their conscience at regular intervals by condemning the Modi government with reason or without.

The pretend-liberals don’t really require an excuse to unleash a volley of vile invectives against the government, but this time the provocation was the resignation of a junior professor. They were angry that the university authorities did not do enough to persuade him to withdraw his resignation. There was no suggestion that he had been asked to go.

But all these worthies who shed tears for the professor, who incidentally had another assignment waiting for him in Pune, did not for a moment pause to consider why instead of defending his controversial paper about the 2019 parliamentary polls being rigged, he chose to resign. Was it because the research paper, titled ‘Democratic backsliding in the world’s largest democracy’, had no academic leg to stand on? It was indefensible.

Even those who ranted against the university found the paper unworthy of a serious academic. It was a case of foisting a false conclusion on a paper that itself offered not an iota of evidence of wrongdoing, either by the ruling party or the Election Commission, to suggest that there was hanky-panky in the 2019 victory of Modi. Nor was the paper peer-reviewed.

So why this controversy over his completely voluntary resignation and its acceptance by the university? Could it be that the left-liberal crowd denied the crumbs of patronage from the high table since the advent of Modi in 2014 needs to keep its morale up by inventing such false causes? Its refusal to recognise the popularly elected government fills it with frustration, obliging it to periodically relieve itself of anger by hurling stones at the ruling regime and anyone else seen to be doing its bidding.

Leaving aside the habitual abusers of Modi, a far more serious question all public-spirited citizens must ask is the gratuitous blame being heaped daily on those who had donated a part of their well-earned millions to set up one of the best liberal arts universities in the country. If some of the founders regret the selfless philanthropy, who can blame them? Why would they invest in quality education when all they get is abuse? Their plight must discourage others from setting up another Ashoka-like university.

DID YOU KNOW the highest percentage of billionaires in Rajya Sabha, party-wise, belongs to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)?

You ought to have, considering its leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal resides in an allegedly ₹52-crore mansion. AAP MPs have another distinction: Four of them figure in the top 10 on the rich list.

Now a little bird tells me the reason they are MPs is because they are billionaires, and not because of any other proven record of public service. Kejriwal should know how to square his public image of an aam aadmi with a luxury mansion for himself and the nomination of the super-wealthy for a six-year stint in Parliament.

It seems the Delhi chief minister has a poor opinion of the real aam aadmi.

About The Author

Virendra Kapoor

Virendra Kapoor is a political commentator based in Delhi