A total of 887 academics, experts and students from India and abroad have condemned the “vindictive harassment and persecution” of economist and social activist Deepak Malghan by the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

Malghan is an assistant professor at the institute. He was subject to disciplinary action for his activism and social media posts, deemed to be in violation of the institute’s code of conduct.

In an open letter dated October 9 and shared with Roll On Friday, the 887 signatories condemned “the misuse of the IIMB (Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore) service rules to stifle academic freedom on campus”.

It is “truly unfortunate” that the institute is violating the “Principles for Implementing the Right to Academic Freedom,” the group said. The Principles are a set of guidelines for protecting and promoting academic freedom issued by the United Nations.

The letter condemned the “politically motivated” decision to “demote” Malghan and demanded that the institute withdraw all sanctions against him.

According to the open letter, Malghan joined the management school as an assistant professor in 2008. Subsequently, he was promoted to associate professor.

Malghan was to be elevated to professor but the promotion was denied due to disciplinary action taken against him in 2022.

In March 2024, Malghan was demoted to assistant professor, the letter added.

“The recent demotion by the IIMB is only the culmination of a series of persecutions it has been subjected to since 2018,” the signatories wrote. “They are clearly linked to the issue of academic freedom.”

In response to the letter, the institute said its rules governing employee conduct had been approved by its faculty and board of trustees, reported The Hindu. Any disciplinary action is taken according to transparent and well-defined procedures, the management school said.

He added: “The institute does not agree with certain cause and effect relationships mentioned in the letter, and as certain aspects of the matter are pending, we ask all parties to refrain from any speculation. Therefore, the institute has no further comments at this time.

The 887 signatories condemned what they described as “muzzling the demands” made by Malghan, which were dedicated to respecting constitutional values.

Background

According to the letter, a censorship order was first issued by the institute against Malghan in October 2018.

This was linked to an email he sent to students to dissuade them from inviting consumer goods company Hindustan Unilever Limited to do on-campus placements due to its alleged failure to remedy the problem. Shame caused by mercury poisoning from its thermometer factory in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu.

The same year, Malghan co-authored articles documenting the “acute social diversity deficit” within Indian management institutes. He also wrote and campaigned against the lack of diversity in higher education institutions, the letter said.

“Part of the harassment Dr Malghan faced was due to the backlash from entrenched interests who resisted his push for caste justice within and outside the IIMs,” the group said .

In 2019, another censorship order was issued against Malghan for an interview he gave to Rollin which he “criticized IIMs for lack of diversity among faculty and other governance-related issues”. This order imposed a ban on its research funding and consulting activities.

In 2022, another investigation was opened based on several complaints against two articles published by Malghan on X.

The letter said: “The IIM(B) Standing Disciplinary Committee, while referring these complaints to a commission of inquiry, has widened the scope to include articles published by Professor Deepak Malghan on the issue of lack of diversity in higher education establishments. »

The inquiry committee found no violation of service rules and did not recommend any disciplinary action against Malghan, he added.

However, the disciplinary commission subsequently allegedly ignored the findings of the commission of inquiry and claimed that Malghan had in fact violated the rules of conduct. The institute then suspended its promotion for a year.

Malghan challenged the suit in the Karnataka High Court.

Another investigation was opened against the professor in 2023 for an article on X in which he highlighted the prevalence of caste discrimination within the institute. The investigation added other messages from Malghan to its report and found him guilty of allegedly violating service rules.

The institute then passed an order in March 2024 demoting Malghan for five years and “also prohibiting him from posting anything related to IIMB on social media or public forums.”

Malghan also filed a complaint in the Karnataka High Court against the order. Earlier this year, the court stay the action.