Academic freedom in Australia may involve interfering with wallabies and kangaroos but does it also put one at risk at interference by Indian diplomats? If so, do those diplomats get paid extra? Also, what is the criteria applied by which some Australian academics but not others receive such interference?
One thing is certain. Being a 'fellow' of the Australia India Institute involves some particularly degrading type of interference. I have tried to contact Puroshhotam Billimoria who recently resigned as a 'fellow' or 'bumchum' or whatever- who has quite obviously been very seriously interfered with in ways too horrible to mention- but, truth be told, I did not try very hard, or at all, because the poor fellow may not like being constantly reminded of his ignominy. I haven't tried to contact Ian Woolford, another resigned fellow, just in case he expects more in the way of interference than I would willingly provide.
Scroll.in reports
Allegations of interference in the running of the institute have cropped up, and also of academic freedom being encroached upon. One instance given by the fellows who resigned is of a public event that was “downgraded to a private invitation-only seminar, following an intervention by the Indian High Commissioner”.
Clearly the fellows wanted to be interfered with in a public place open to all interferers and not just a few specially invited private individuals.
Of course it is possible that the event in question was either anti-Australian or anti-Indian and thus of a sort which the Institute could not place its imprimatur upon by reason of its narrow remit to promote good ties between the two countries. But in that case the 'intervention' was salutary. India has the right to decide what is or is not beneficial to bilateral ties. If the Institute engages in anti-Indian activities, Indian diplomats would be remiss in not taking objection to it and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs would be obligated to take suitable action- issuing a demarche, or shutting down the Institute's Delhi office, or other actions of that sort.
An Institute, like a University Department, has a narrower focus than that of the University as a whole. A professor of Literature can't give lectures on Organic Chemistry even if he believes that Shakespeare's sonnets deal with that subject. Academic freedom, in some Departments, may involve being a paranoid cretin. But not all University departments are utterly useless. Nor are all the Institutes pursuing narrower agendas for defined constituencies or stakeholders even if they operate under the aegis of a particular University.
Speaking to The Age, one of the academics said this was a 2019 event titled “Keywords for India: Violence”, that was to discuss the violence being perpetrated on Muslims in India.
Why not an event titled 'Keyword for Australia- genocide against darkies?' The answer is that this would not help promote better ties between a country ruled by Whites who killed the indigenous blacks and a much bigger country where the indigenous people are independent and of a darker skin tone.
One of the fellows, Ian Woolford,
an American who wanted to be a singer but ended up with a useless PhD from Texas
lecturer in Hindi studies at La Trobe University and an expert
the guy can't speak Hindi properly, let alone Bhojpuri
in Bhojpuri and Maithili folk songs, took to social media and tweeted: “I have resigned my affiliation with the Australia India Institute, due to concerns over government interference and restrictions of academic freedom,”
Ian is anti-Indian. He may also be anti-Australian. He does not want India and Australia to join hands with America and Japan to form a quad alliance. It is good that he has resigned from an Institute which has the opposite brief. But this has nothing to do with academic freedom. An Institute is welcome to only encourage such work as serves the purpose for which it was created. The Institute of Accountancy is welcome to refuse to publicize the work of an expert in Bio-Chemistry. Where there is Government involvement in the funding and running of an Institute, Government interference is to be expected. It is a salutary thing if the purpose of the Institute- building bilateral relations in this case- is better served thereby.
“Universities create space for academics to think, write, and dissent
Institutes have a narrower purpose. However, it is Society in its broadest sense which 'creates space' for everybody- not just pedants- to think and write and dissent and end up getting interfered with in a manner to horrible to recount.
. When academics have reason to fear, universities provide support.
No. The police provide you protection if you have cause for fear. Universities don't employ guys with guns. Plenty of scientific researchers have been threatened by the Animal Rights nutjobs. It is the police who provide them with security.
Many of my colleagues in India have reason to fear but have no support.
But some of his colleagues in India would like to kick his head in. Others have a lively fear of their hand being chopped off- as happened to C.J Joseph.
Many have been prosecuted for thinking, writing, and dissenting.
No. They have been prosecuted for crimes for which there was prima facie evidence.
“Witnessing this situation makes me reflect on the global fragility of academic freedom and the power of fear over us all.
But 'academic freedom' is more gravely imperiled in Islamic countries in the region. As for the threat Australia faces from China, Ian chooses to remain silent. Does he think Chairman Xi is promoting academic freedom among the Uighurs? Is he blind to Australia's need for strong defense ties with India as part of 'quad'?
I stand with my incarcerated colleagues and call on all universities to uphold their foundational commitments to academic freedom and scholarly dissent.”
If Ian went to China or Putin's Russia or Taliban Afghanistan and stood with 'incarcerated colleagues' there, we might respect him. But this American who teaches a language he can barely speak is doing no such thing. He is merely virtue signalling. What will be the result? The Indian MEA will be inundated with letters demanding that he never be given a Research Visa. A nuisance will be curbed.
Ian says-
We are asking for an independent investigation into a serious matter of global importance, not a squabble over a single webinar that I never mentioned.
An investigation can only be carried out within the jurisdiction where the crime occurred. Why does Ian want an 'independent investigation' in Australia of things which happened in India? Is he not aware that Australia does not rule India?
In the Interview, I discussed the assassinations of our colleagues Gauri Lankesh, Govind Pansare, Narendra Dabholkar, and MM Kalburgi.
Kalburgi alone had been an academic but he was not targeted by reason of academic work. Gauri Lankesh and Kalburgi were killed during a religious controversy about the nature of their Lingayat sect. Congress ruled Karnataka at that time. Pansare was a Communist who may have been killed by members of a crazy cult founded by a hypnotherapist. Dabhokar, a doctor turned social worker who exposed charlatans and 'black magicians', was a popular figure. It is hoped that his killers will get justice and that other such cases will be solved once the criminals involved see the game is up.
Ian is completely ignorant of the part of India where these murders occurred. He is blatantly trying to exploit the deaths of these people who were deeply embedded in their own communities so as to show himself as their 'colleague' or peer. The man is no such thing. He is a silly American with a worthless PhD who is making a laughing stock of himself by teaching Hindi in Australia.
I wish the Institute had responded instead with a commitment to organise a conference exploring the ideas of these slain writers and academics.”This would involve Kannada and Marathi speaking people who have no connection with Australia. It is not the case that people in Melbourne understand the theological issues involved in differentiating Veerasaivas from Lingayats. Indeed, it now looks as though Congress is back pedaling on this issue. Are they or are they not the same community under different names? This is not a matter of interest to anyone outside Karnataka. It is certainly not a 'global issue' which should concern Australians.
On the other hand, it may be that Indian diplomats gained access to Ian by pretending to engage him in a dialog on Veerasaiva theology. Then they ruthlessly interfered with him in a manner too horrific to specify.
Who did the dirty deed? Ian is being coy but we are welcome to speculate.
In an interview with The Wire, Amitabh Mattoo,
a Kashmiri Pundit who knows a thing or two about not just fear but actual ethnic cleansing
founding director and CEO of the Australia India Institute and a current member of its governing body, tried to allay the seriousness of the allegations. He denied almost every accusation made about the institute during the interview. He said that that “most of these fellows’ tenure had expired and they were not really in a position to resign because once the term ends then they are disconnected automatically from the institute”.
That may be but it has to be said that the Institute should have been more pro-active in getting rid of nutcases and shitheads.
Asked about the allegation of interference by the Indian High Commission, he said that it certainly did not happen during his tenure as director nor during that of current director Senator Lisa Singh’s tenure – but could have taken place when Craig Jeffrey was director. Mattoo described Professor Jeffrey as “an Oxbridge dyed-in-the-wool academic” and then added the fellows were “scholarly, they often lack spine”.
Mattoo is better connected to the Indian bureaucracy. God alone knows what he was trying to get at. I suppose he thinks Jeffrey is a lightweight. The fact is the Australia India Institute is gearing up and thus will need more institutional clout more particularly in the Defense field. The era of the amiable eccentric talking about 'time pass' has come and gone. If quad is to become a reality, the Ozzies will have to up their game. The Indians are too lethargic and are inveterate landlubbers. Ultimately, India has to push back on the land frontier. Talk of pivoting to the Sea soon dries up in arid New Delhi.
When Ian Woolford was asked by The Wire about this description:
He misunderstood it completely. Mattoo was saying the Institute needs guys who may hold Professorships but are actually heavy hitters in the Bureaucracy- especially the Defense bureaucracy- and who can get in big Corporations for joint ventures such that Red Tape doesn't paralyze every initiative. There has to be a mechanism whereby middle management understands the new orientation and effective networks are created so that bilateral ties acquire their own momentum. Silly dudes who write about 'timepass' or who think they can sing Bhojpuri songs must be disintermediated.
“If the alternative is being a smarmy, spiny politician type who knows how to move from position to position without ever upsetting the boss upstairs, then honestly I would like a spineless dyed-in-the-wool-academic t-shirt made up for me, I would have worn it today……
The problem here is that Woolford can't speak Hindi properly. Nobody thinks he is an 'academic'. They think he is a silly fellow who may like being interfered with in remote parts of the cow-belt. What the Australia India Institute needs is smart people who catalyze change and innovations across bureaucratic or corporate information silos and networks of control. The Ozzies, historically, have punched above their weight in this type of hard headed diplomacy. India could take lessons.
I wish that more powerful people in India, who I know are dismayed by this, I wish they’d stop bragging about their spine and actually show them.
Ian is wanting to see Rahul baba's spine. Hopefully he won't ask him to also remove his undies. Interference can be a two way street you know.
So, if you ever have the chance to question him again, ask Professor Mattoo why the Indian government is afraid of dyed-in-the-wool-academics but not afraid of him.”
The Indian government is not afraid of academics. Nobody is. But academics can become a nuisance- as witness the anti-Israel BDS movement. 32 American states have banned it. A Math teacher in Kansas had to sign a statement saying she would desist from this type of propaganda so as to receive her salary! India is unlikely to pursue this matter in an aggressive manner. After all, the stupidity of the anti-India lobby causes NRIs to open their wallets and their hearts to the BJP.
Woolford also refuted Mattoo’s claim that most of the fellows’ tenure had expired, saying the ex-director must be confused.
This is quite possible. Professors of all types gradually become as stupid as shit.
About the mass resignation from the Australia India Institute, Woolford said he had valid reasons for voicing concern since he feels the mission of the institute has changed over the years and it was becoming more of a think tank, oriented primarily towards promoting bilateral engagement between governments keeping their priorities in mind over critical inquiry.
Yet the primary purpose was always stated to be that of improving bilateral ties. Obviously, because of the Chinese threat, things have been kicked up a gear. The Institute needs to get rid of the nutters and virtue signallers so that those with bureaucratic or Corporate clout are attracted to it.
He also expressed unhappiness at the arbitrary termination of affiliations of certain fellows by the institute the month before, without even the courtesy of notifying them.
So, maybe Mattoo wasn't so confused after all. The Institute was cleaning house so as to be fit to carry quad forward.
Asked about interference by the Indian High Commissioner, Woolford said that not only in Australia, one needs to ask academics in New Zealand, Canada and the United States what it means to get “the call” from the Indian High Commission.
I have asked various academics and provided helpful multiple choice responses
Does receiving the 'call' from the Indian High Commission result in your being interfered by
a) a kangaroo
b) a wallaby
c) a kangaroo and a wallaby taking turns while shouting anti-Australian slogans
d) Amitabh Mattoo disguised as a kangaroo though I'd explicitly mentioned my preference for wallabies. On the other hand, a passing koala bear joined in so, all things considered, it was a better than average Friday night.
He added that it would become evident that academics are dealing with more than government interference considering the relentless online abuse they have to face from Indian right wingers on social media as well.
Why would this become evident? The answer may be that academics- or just guys who teach Hindi without being able to speak it properly- will display their prolapsed rectums and name and shame government officials who 'interfered' with their anuses. They will also give detailed descriptions of the horrific sexual self-abuse they suffered as a result of reading this blog post. Needless to say, this will deter Chinese aggression and put Ozzie-Indian bilateral relations on a much stronger footing.
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