[Urban-Media] American Scholars not Welcome in India!

[Shekhar Krishnan]

Have a look at this story from the Indian Express and my blog post.
Looking forward to your comments and disagreements. 

http://www.indianexpress.com/iep/sunday/story/23071.html
http://www.heptanesia.net/2007/02/11/need-for-regime-change/

Best, 


S.K.

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"Are you an American scholar? You aren't welcome in India"

That's the signal from the UPA to Fulbright scholars in the US: delaying
their visas for weeks, months; rejecting their research proposals
without any reason. Even asking them to change their subject. This when
Indo-US equation couldn't have been better 

THE SUNDAY EXPRESS 
Shubhajit Roy 


Posted Sunday 11 February 2007
 
NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 10 :For all the talk about a buzzing, confident
India, there couldn't be a better — or, to be more accurate, worse —
showcase of how some things haven't changed than this: the country,
which is on its way towards signing a landmark nuclear deal with the
United States, whose engagement with Washington is a centrepiece of its
foreign policy, makes US scholars virtually bend and crawl when it comes
to their visiting India for research. 

The Sunday Express accessed latest official records on the Indo-US
Fulbright programme, one of the most prestigious bilateral
scholar-exchange programmes, under which about 100 scholars from India
go to the US and an equal number of Americans come here to pursue
research with relevant institutions. Fulbright scholars — including
graduates from premier universities, like Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley
and Chicago — have gone on to win 34 Nobels and more than 60 Pulitzer
Prizes. 

Records show that for US scholars, the last two years — since the UPA
came to power — have been the worst in the 57-year history of the
programme. Not only has the Government kept the highest number of
scholars waiting for anywhere between anywhere between six months to 21
months — effectively derailing their entire schedule — it has also, in
several cases, rejected research proposals without giving any reason. 

Sample the subjects rejected by the babus of this "secular" Government:
Democratization in Kerala and the role of associations; perceptions of
Muslim women; Left politics in Mumbai; how migration affects Hindus and
Muslims in Hyderabad and Dubai. Many scholars refused to re-apply while
some changed their subjects to get a visa (see chart). 

Significantly, the scholars get no explanation why their research
proposals have been rejected. 

While Indian scholars, selected under the Fulbright programme, get their
visas from anywhere between two hours to two weeks, US scholars are told
that the Indian government needs "three months" to process their
application. Even those three months are only on paper. 

At the beginning of the academic year, in August 2006, when the
Fulbright scholars should have been in India, there were 93 applications
pending for grant of visas of a total of 100. And this included not just
last year's pending applications, but also some from 2005. 

So delayed was the process that the Fulbright Commission in India,
popularly known as the United States Educational Foundation in India
(USEFI), had little choice but to cancel its August orientation
programme. And 33 scholars sent an angry letter to US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice asking her to intervene. 

As of today, over six months into the academic year, there are still
eight applications pending. Another seven are still waiting for their
visas after they changed their subject. 

Key to the delay is the stifling red tape: HRD, the nodal ministry,
first gets the visa applications from scholars through USEFI; it then
sends each scholar's file to the Ministry of External Affairs and the
Home Ministry which, in turn, asks the Intelligence Bureau for
clearance. Sometimes, even the Ministry concerned is asked to vet the
subject. For example, the Environment Ministry may be asked to clear a
research proposal on India's energy needs. 

While HRD officials do not specify who decides on the "suitability" of
the proposal, sources said an "IB-negative report" or a Ministry's
"concerns" lead to the blacklist. 

When asked to explain the delay, HRD Secretary R P Agarwal said: "Our
Ministry is only a postbox. We have asked the MEA and Home Ministry to
speed up clearances." 

(Tomorrow: Desperate scholars appeal to US Secretary of State) 

shubhajit.roy at expressindia.com
-- 

Shekhar Krishnan
400, West 119th Street, Apt.10D
New York, NY 10027
U.S.A.

http://www.mit.edu/~shekhar
http://www.heptanesia.net
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