Gujarat

historian

Ahmedabad University

Narendra Modi government

Sardar Patel would have been appalled by the crude boastfulness of the ads in his name in today’s newspapers. That… https://t.co/cvNJsV5CHK — Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) 1540961994000

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I shall not be joining Ahmedabad University. I wish AU well; it has fine fa… https://t.co/mnokinlA2Y — Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) 1541050605000

“Her people” is a phrase redolent of feudal patronage and arrogance. Indira Gandhi did not own India or Indians. “H… https://t.co/N4dHISqdh3 — Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) 1540956926000

Narendra Modi

A young writer remarked to me recently that in his megalomaniac ambitions, Narendra Modi resembles Emperor Bokassa… https://t.co/p8DU7xcDW3 — Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) 1540997678000

“Intolerance” inreached a new high with knownRamachandra Guha announcing that he will not be able to come to Ahmedabad and take up a teaching assignment.Sources at, where he was going to take up teaching confirmed to Mirror, “It is because of his impression. Guha is too liberal to teach in Gujarat. Gujarat is not for sickulars”. “Guha is anti-Modi and cannot be allowed to stay and teach in Gujarat,” a senior teacher told Mirror stressing, “Just yesterday Guha had criticised theindirectly”.Incidentally, Guha had said Sardar Patel would not have approved the extravaganza in his name referring to the Statue of Unity.Ahmedabad University has declined to comment, yet.That something went wrong was also apparent from Guha’s tweet which said “may the spirit of Gandhi one day come alive once more in his native Gujarat”.Just on October 16, Ahmedabad University had announced that Guha would be joining as Shrenik Lalbhai Chair Professor of Humanities and Director of Gandhi Winter School at the University’s School of Arts and Sciences.Ram Guha was not available for comments but he tweeted “Due to circumstances beyond my control, I shall not be joining Ahmedabad University.”However, after Guha announced that he would not be able to take up the Ahmedabad assignment due to circumstances beyond his control, he also tweeted a link to an anti-Indira Gandhi piece. Also yesterday. Ram Guha had criticised Rahul Gandhi of the Congress for his tweet on his grandmother Indira Gandhi, saying it smacked of feudal patrongage and arrogance.Guha’s announcement that he will not be able to take up the teaching assignment in Ahmedabad comes hours after he had tweeted that with his megalomaniac ambitions, Prime Ministerwas closer to Emperor Bokassa.Ram Guha had tweeted, “A young writer remarked to me recently that in his megalomaniac ambitions, Narendra Modi resembles Emperor Bokassa more than he resembles Xi Jinping. I think that’s spot on.Bokassa was a self-proclaimed emperor of Central Africa known for his brutality, outrageous extravaganza, human rights violation and megalomania.Emperor Bokassa who died in 1996 had special economic relationship with France which was alleged to have struck friendship with the poor Central African regime’s dictatorial emperor for its diamonds and uranium.Ahmedabad University set up in 2009, is one of Gujarat’s most respected private university. Its board of management includes known academic Pankaj Chandra, former NASSCOM and SAC Director Kiran Karnik and known author Patrick French.The vice chancellor of Ahmedabad University is Pankaj Chandra who who was earlier Director of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) and a Professor of Operations and Technology Management at IIMB. He has taught at various institutions such as McGill University in Montreal, University of Geneva, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, International University of Japan, Cornell University, Renmin University, Beijing, and IIM Ahmedabad (IIMA). He also worked briefly with The World Bank in Washington DC. He was the Chairperson of the Doctoral Program at IIM Ahmedabad and the first Associate Dean (Academic) at ISB, Hyderabad. Prof Chandra was not available for comments.The Chairman of Ahmedabad University is Sanjay Lalbhai who was not available for comments on this story. Sanjay Lalbhai belongs to the Kasturbhai family, one of the most philanthropic families of Gujarat, which has played a premier role in setting up educational institutions. The family owns textile mills including Arvind.“Very pleased to share the news that I shall be joining Ahmedabad University as the Shrenik Lalbhai Professor of the Humanities,” Ram Guha had tweeted just 15 days back.“We came to know of Guha’s decision only through his tweet,” Ahmedabad University registrar BM Shah told Mirror.“Our vice-chancellor Pankaj Chandra is currently travelling”, he said.University sources confirmed that Guha had already started designing a multi-disciplinary curriculum also.At least six academicians Mirror spoke to say that Guha’s assignment was following “pressure from Right Wing”.However, Ahmedabad University officials declined to comment on this.Ahmedabad University is likely to issue a formal statement soon. Mirror will update its story then.At the time of Guha’s joining announcement, VC Pankaj Chandra had said, Guha would “bring his interpretation of history including environmental, political, contemporary and even cricket history to develop interesting and powerful programmes and research that stand at the confluence of various disciplines” and that “his presence will help the university build [its] own dialogue around Gandhi”.Guha, a known historian, has interests in Gandhi, Cricket, environment and politics.