New Delhi: A group of nearly 100 university faculty members and researchers based outside of India have written an open letter criticising the Union government’s decision to suspend the Centre for Policy Research’s FCRA registration.
In an order dated February 27, the MHA has alleged that CPR has been using its FCRA funds for purposes other than the educational programmes for which the licence was granted. Because of this, the notice says, the organisation’s FCRA registration stands suspended for 180 days or until further notice.
CPR has denied the MHA’s allegations, saying that are in complete compliance with the law and have responded to all of the ministry’s queries.
In the open letter, professors from universities in the US, UK, Europe and Australia have said they are “shocked and dismayed” at the government action. Calling CPR “one of India’s oldest and most esteemed policy research institutions”, the signatories say it has a “reputation for excellence that is second to none among international scholars”.
Signatories include Adam Tooze, Daniel Honig, Christophe Jaffrelot, Alpa Shah, Filippo Osella (who was deported from India despite having a valid visa) and others.
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Letter from Concerned International Faculty and Researchers
As researchers and scholars with a deep interest in India, we are shocked and dismayed to learn that the Government of India has suspended Centre for Policy Research’s (CPR) registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulatory Act. Coming on the heels of the Income Tax survey conducted on CPR last year, this action is clearly aimed at undermining a leading research institution and jeopardising its existence. It also sets a dangerous precedent that will impair the pursuit of research and independent judgment in the country.
Established in 1973, CPR is one of India’s oldest and most esteemed policy research institutions. Over the past the five decades, it has served as a vital and resolutely non-partisan centre of knowledge and research on key public policy questions and challenges confronting India and the world. The excellent scholarship produced by CPR has also consistently illuminated and informed Indian public debates. CPR has the rare distinction of working with successive central and state governments as well as a range of other institutions across the country. The governing board of CPR, comprising eminent Indians committed to public service, has held the organization to the highest standards of intellectual rigour and institutional probity.
Precisely because it is an Indian institution steeped in the Indian policy milieu, CPR has been a close and indispensable interlocutor to academics and researchers working on India across the world. Through its rigorous research and active engagement its has earned a reputation for excellence that is second to none among international scholars. It has also facilitated the engagement of a large number of scholars with India over the years and has mentored some of the finest young researchers in India. In turn, CPR’s commitment to rigorous academic inquiry has made it the partner of choice for many universities, research institutions and philanthropic foundations outside India. CPR is a highly valued member of the international research community—one that has considerably enhanced the reputation of Indian academic and research work on the global stage.
The recent moves against CPR by the Indian government amount to an abrogation of the institutional independence that is crucial to the production and dissemination of knowledge. In so doing, they also strike a blow at intellectual freedom and public reason that are cornerstones of Indian democracy. We respectfully urge the Indian government to reconsider its decision. We affirm our full support to the President of Centre for Policy Research and her colleagues.
| Name | Designation | Institution |
| Dan Honig | Associate Professor | University College, London |
| Karuna Mantena | Professor of Political Science | Columbia University |
| Adam Tooze | Professor of History | Columbia University |
| Ashutosh Varshney | Professor of Political Science | Brown University |
| Prerna Singh | Associate Professor of Political Science | Brown University |
| Tariq Thachil | Professor of Political Science | University of Pennsylvania |
| Sanjoy Chakravorty | Professor of Geography and Urban Studies | Temple University |
| Paul Staniland | Professor of Political Science | University of Chicago |
| Mukulika Banerjee | Associate Professor of Anthropology | London School of Economics |
| Christophe Jaffrelot | Professor of Indian Politics and Sociology | King’s College London |
| Andrew Kennedy | Associate Professor | Australian National University |
| Pradeep Chibber | Professor of Political Science | University of California, Berkeley |
| Ira Katznelson | Professor of Political Science and History | Columbia University |
| Jan Werner-Mueller | Professor of Social Sciences | Princeton University |
| Sumit Ganguly | Professor of Political Science | Indiana University |
| Uday Singh Mehta | Professor of Political Science | City University of New York |
| Mark W. Frazier | Professor of Politics | The New School |
| Shanta Devarajan | Professor of the Practice of International Development | Georgetown University |
| Gary Bass | Professor of Politics and International Affairs | Princeton University |
| Lousie Tillin | Professor of Politics | King’s College London |
| Parick Le Galès | Resarch Professor of Sociology, Politics and Urban Studies | Sciences Po |
| Olle Törnquist | Prof. Emeritus of Politics & Development | University of Oslo |
| Poulami Roychowdhury | Associate Professor of Sociology | McGill University |
| Michael Burawoy | Professor of Sociology | University of California, Berkeley |
| Mike Levien | Associate Professor of Sociology | Johns Hopkins University |
| Rina Agarwala | Professor of Sociology | Johns Hopkins University |
| Emmerich Davies | Assistant Professor | Harvard University |
| Lucas González | Professor | Escuela de Política y Gobierno |
| Phil Harrison | Professor | University of the Witwatersrand |
| Rajesh Veeeraghavan | Assistant Professor | Georgetown University |
| Adam Auerbach | Associate Professor | American University |
| Kim Lane Schepple | Professor Of Sociology | Princeton University |
| Alexander Lee | Associate Professor of Political Science | University of Rochester |
| Anjali Thomas | Associate Professor of International Affairs | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Jishnu Das | Professor | Georgetown University |
| Maitresh Ghatak | Professor of Economics | London School of Economics |
| Pranab Bardhan | Professor | University of California, Berkeley |
| Sumitra Badrinathan | Assistant Professor | American University |
| Bhumi Purohit | Assistant Professor | Georgetown/ UC Berkeley |
| Rani Mullen | Professor | The College of William & Mary |
| Alpa Shah | Professor of Anthropology | London School of Economics |
| Rachele Brule | Assistant Professor of Political Science | Boston University |
| Sanjay Ruparelia | Professor | Toronto Metropolitan University |
| Aditya Dasgupta | Assistant Professor of Political Science | University of California, Merced |
| Rikhil Bhavnani | Professor of Political Science | University of Wisconsin, Madison |
| Christopher Clary | Assistant Professor | State University of New York, Albany |
| Pradeep Chhibber | Professor of Political Science | University of California, Berkeley |
| Larry Diamond | Senior Fellow | The Hoover Institution |
| Irfan Nooruddin | Professor | Geogetown University |
| Gyan Prakash | Professor | Princeton University |
| Aditi Malik | Assistant Professor | College of the Holy Cross |
| Jennifer Bussell | Associate Professor of Political Science | University of California, Berkeley |
| Nayanik Mathur | Professor | Oxford University |
| Indrajit Roy | Senior Lecturer | University of York |
| Emma Mawdsley | Professor of Geography | University of Cambridge |
| Darryl Li | Assistant Professor | University of Chicago |
| Megnaa Mehtta | Lecturer in Social Anthropology | University College, London |
| John Echeverri-Gent | Professor of Politics | University of Virginia |
| Christine Fair | Associate Professor | Georgetown University |
| Neil DeVotta | Professor of Politics and International Affairs | Wake Forest University |
| Wilhelm Krull | Founding Director | The New Institute |
| John Harriss | Emeritus Professor of International studies | Simon Fraser University |
| Dinsha Mistree | Research Fellow | Hoover Institution and Stanford Law School |
| Sunil Amrith | Professor of History | Yale University |
| Rohit De | Associate Professor of History | Yale University |
| Sudipta Kaviraj | Professor of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies | Columbia University |
| Atul Kohli | Professor of International Affairs | Princeton University |
| Maya Tudor | Associate Professor of Government and Public Policy | Oxford University |
| Gabi Kruks-Wisner | Associate Professor of Politics and Global studies | University of Virginia |
| Adam Ziegfeld | Associate Professor | Temple university |
| Sanjay Reddy | Professor of Economics | New School of Social Research |
| Ravinder Kaur | Professor | University of Copnhagen |
| Francesca Jensenius | Professor of Political Science | University of Oslo |
| Tanushree Goyal | Assistant Professor of Politics | Princeton University |
| Simon Maxwell | Former Director | Oversees Develpment Institute |
| Robert Stavins | Professor of Energy & Economic Development | Harvard Kennedy School |
| Mike Hulme | Professor of Geography | Cambridge University |
| Matto Mildenberger | Assistant Professor | University of California, Santa Barbara |
| Harald Winkler | Professor | University of Cape Town |
| Patrick Heller | Professor of Sociology | Brown University |
| Hochstetler, Kathryn | Professor of International Development | London School of Economics and Political Science |
| Peter Newell | Professor of International Relations | University of Sussex |
| Vinay Gidwani | Distinguished University Teaching Professor | University of Minnesota |
| Matthew Lockwood | Senior Lecturer | University of Sussex |
| Holdren, John P. | Co-Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program | Harvard Kennedy School of Government |
| David Engerman | Professor of History | Yale University |
| J. Timmons Roberts | Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology | Brown University |
| Raphael Kaplinsky | Emeritus Professorial Fellow | Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex |
| Carlota Perez | Honorary Professor | University of Sussex |
| Rumy Hasan | Senior Lecturer | University of Sussex |
| Filippo Osella | Professor of Anthropology | University of Sussex |
| Ben Rogaly | Professor of Human Geography | University of Sussex |
| Harro von Blottnitz | Director Energy Systems Research Group | University of Cape Town |
| Lucy Baker | Senior Research Fellow | University of Sussex |
| Stephen Howes | Professor of Economics at the Crawford School of Public Policy | Australian National University |
| Matthew Paterson | Director, Sustainable Consumption Institute | University of Manchester |
| Milan Vaishnav | Director and Senior Fellow, South Asia Program | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |