On August 14, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) issued summon to Delhi University Professor Rakesh Ranjan, who teaches economics at Shri Ram College of Commerce, in connection with the Elgar Parishad case.
Since then, students, scholars and activists across the country have been opposing the summons issued not only to Ranjan, but other academicians too. In the same vein, students, mentees, colleagues and friends of Ranjan at SRCC, which also happens to be the professor’s alma mater, have issued a joint statement extending their solidarity with him “against the needless and baseless interrogation by the NIA”.
According to the students, Ranjan has always been a “staunch supporter of inclusivity” besides teaching economics at the college and has always encouraged students to critically analyse the literature they read.
“His initiatives, both inside and outside the classroom, have been instrumental for the betterment of the student community. His sincere commitment towards teaching was also acknowledged in 2009 when he was felicitated with the Distinguished Teacher Award by the President of India,” says the statement.
The signatories have unequivocally condemned the NIA investigation, calling it “a witch-hunt”.
Read the full statement below:
§
We, the students, mentees, colleagues and friends of Prof Rakesh Ranjan of Department of Economics, Shri Ram College of Commerce stand in solidarity with him against the needless and baseless interrogation by the National Investigation Agency against him on the infamous Bhima Koregaon matter. Another professor from Hindu College, Prof P. K. Vijayan of the English Department was also summoned along with Prof Rakesh Ranjan on the same matter.
Prof Rakesh Ranjan has always encouraged his students towards critical reading of the literature and, through his teaching, developed academic interest among them and has had a significant influence in the lives of many of them. He has not only been an accomplished teacher of the subject of economics, but also a staunch supporter of inclusivity. His initiatives, both inside and outside the classroom, have been instrumental for the betterment of the student community. His sincere commitment towards teaching was also acknowledged in 2009 when he was felicitated with the Distinguished Teacher Award by the President of India.
We condemn such interrogation by the national agency as an act of witch-hunt. It is clear by now that this act is a part of the larger scheme of the suppression of any kind of concerned and dissenting voices. We urge the national agency to immediately stop any such baseless investigation against him.
1.Aanchal Gupta
2.Aanya Mohan
3.Abida
4.Aditi Munshi
5.Akriti Bhatia
6.Amandeep Singh
7.Amol Singh Raswan
8.Amrita Brahmo
9.Anirban Kar
10.Ankita Kodavoor
11.Ankita Rastogi
12.Anuj Goyal
13.Anupriya
14.Archit Taluka
15.Arundhati
16.Asavari Rana
17.Asmita Verma
18.Ayushya Kaul
19.Barun Kashyap
20.Bhavya Singh
21.Carolyne Rosangliani
22.Chaitanya Khandelwal
23.Dawa Sherpa
24.Dhiraj Nim
25.Disha Yadav
27.Gogol Mitra Thakur
28.Gourika Khanna
29.Ishita
30.Jahanvi
31.Jitendra Meena
32.Juwaria Rashid
33.Jyoti
34.Kajal Kumari
35.Kanika Saxena
36.Khawla Zainab
37.Klirka Engtipi
38.Kunzang Shangderpa
39.Mahima Kalra
40.Meghna Negi
41.Mritunjay Kumar
42.Neeraja Gupta
43.Neha Dhayal
44.Neha Linga
45.Neha Saluja
46.Nehmat
47.Nikita Gupta
48.Nitish Kumar
49.Pallavi Agrawal
50.Prashant Mohit
51.Ravi Hooda
52.Ravi Kant
53.Rishav Thakur
54.Sakshi Saini
55.Samhita Khuntia
56.Santosh Kumar
57.Sargam
58.Sasaki Negi
59.Satish Kumar
60.Satya Chintamaneni
61.Saumya Joshi
62.Shefali Saini
63.Shelja Bhatia
64.Shivani Tanwar
65.Shreya Menon
66.Siddhi Pandey
67.Smriti Singh
68.Srishti Yadav
69.Sujan Dangal
70.Suraj Upadhyay
71.Swayam Sarangi
72.Tanu Yadav
73.Tanya Sethi
74.Trishla Singh
75.Tuhina Roy
76.Ugyal Tenzing
77.Unnati Bose
78.Vasudha Verma
79.Vasundhara Kamal
80.Vatsalya Yadav
81.Vijay Kumar
82.Vikas Sreevatsa
83.Vivek Soni
84.Yajna Govind
85.Yatika Sethi
Featured image credit: YouTube screengrab