As I perused the list of signatories to the statement that would make a scathing criticism of Digital India its centerpiece, what struck me was that while Visweswaran evidently had no trouble getting those from the disciplines of South Asian studies, anthropology, English, gender studies, and the like to join her, she evidently prevailed on only one faculty member from a technical field to sign on.

The lack of signatories with core competency in the nuances of the Indian government’s initiative to create a digital infrastructure–and its potential vulnerabilities is striking. If the intent was to limit the petition to a rolodex of comrades that commonly join such “open letters” and statements, even while a certain purpose is served, the anti-Modi statement would certainly perpetuate the image of an incestuous academy that many of us seek to shed.