Ashoka University has officially disassociated itself from a research paper authored by one of its faculty members, Sabyasachi Das, which suggested the possibility of vote manipulation by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the 2019 general election. The university's decision came amidst increasing attention and political controversy surrounding the paper titled 'Democratic Backsliding in the World's Largest Democracy' findings.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Ashoka University clarified that any social media activity or public activism carried out by its faculty, students, or staff represents their personal opinion and does not reflect the official stance of the university. This stance aims to maintain a clear distinction between individual viewpoints and the institutional positions of the university.
The research paper's content stirred debate in the political arena after notable remarks were made by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey regarding its findings. However, despite the heightened interest and contrasting responses from lawmakers, the university remains steadfast in its decision to distance itself from the research paper authored by its faculty member.
“Ashoka University is dismayed by the speculation and debate around a recent paper by one of its faculty members (Sabyasachi Das, Assistant Professor of Economics) and the university's position on its contents. As a matter of record, Ashoka University is focused on excellence in teaching and research across multiple disciplines, with a vision to build India's finest university, create social impact and contribute to nation-building. The University encourages its 160-plus faculty to carry out research, but does not direct or approve specific research projects by individual faculty members,” said the university in a tweet.
“Ashoka values research that is critically peer-reviewed and published in reputed journals. To the best of our knowledge, the paper in question has not yet completed a critical review process and has not been published in an academic journal. Social media activity or public activism by Ashoka faculty, students or staff in their individual capacity does not reflect the stand of the University,” the university tweeted.
The paper titled 'Democratic Backsliding in the World's Largest Democracy' aims to contribute to the ongoing discourse by examining the irregular patterns observed during the 2019 general election in India. It specifically investigates whether these patterns are a result of electoral manipulation or the incumbent party's strategic control, which involves accurately predicting and influencing the election outcomes through their campaigning efforts.
"I compile several new datasets and present evidence that is consistent with electoral manipulation in closely contested constituencies and is less supportive of the precise control hypothesis. The manipulation appears to take the form of targeted electoral discrimination against India's largest minority group - Muslims, partly facilitated by weak monitoring by election observers. The results present a worrying development for the future of democracy," the abstract of the research paper said.
Congress MP from Kerala Shashi Tharoor tweeted “... if the Election Commission and/or the Government of India have answers available to refute these arguments, they should provide them in detail. The evidence presented does not lend itself to political attacks on a serious scholar. E.g. the discrepancy in vote tallies needs to be explained, since it can't be wished away".
BJP MPs have raised doubts about the research's validity. Nishikant Dubey, a MP from Jharkhand tweeted, "It is fine to differ with the BJP on matters of policy but this is taking it too far... how can someone in the name of half-baked research discredit India's vibrant poll process? How can any University allow it? Answers needed- this is not a good enough response."
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