*Press Release*

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

More than 20 international academic associations, research centres and diasporic organisations and 350 scholars have issued an open letter outlining numerous objections to the recent policy changes to the guidelines for the National Overseas Scholarship (NOS).

The letter addressed to the Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Virendra Kumar, calls for the immediate withdrawal of the new policy clause that excludes students from marginalised communities intending to pursue further education and research abroad from working on “[t]opics/courses concerning Indian [c]ulture/heritage/[h]istory/[s]ocial studies on India''. The letter describes the guideline as a regressive step for academic exchange, an unwarranted restriction of the academic freedom of scholars studying abroad on government bursaries, as well as an unjustifiable attempt to restrict international scholarship on India.  

The letter argues that the amendments attest to a lack of understanding of how interdisciplinary research is conducted today, where scholarship cannot be restricted by national boundaries. It stresses that for universities around the world with thriving South Asian departments and research centres, it is vital that scholars and researchers from marginalised backgrounds in India contribute to and participate in these international networks and research centres without conditions attached. 

The letter points out that female applicants, already disproportionately under-represented in scientific and technological disciplines, will be most severely affected by the policy changes by being denied eligibility for research in the Social Sciences and Humanities. 

Among the signatories are the the American Anthropological Association and the American Sociological Association, the Centre for South Asian Studies at the University of Edinburgh, UK, the Centre for Modern Indian Studies at the University of Göttingen, Germany, academic unions in Scotland and Ireland and, nearly 20 civil society diasporic and national organisations and associations. Prominent individual signatories include international scholars of India such as David Hardiman, Barbara Harriss-White and Jens Lerche and Indian academics in universities around the world.

The letter is jointly issued by International Solidarity for Academic Freedom in India (InSAF India), National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights - Dalit Arthik Adhikar Andolan (NCDHR-DAAA), and the DBAV Womxn* Collective.

The full open letter and endorsing organisations and institutions  is available on the InSAF India website here: https://www.academicfreedomindia.com/open-letter-against-2022-2023-nos-restrictions

 Open Letter Against National Overseas Scholarship (NOS) Restrictions
(2022-2023 Guidelines)

To:
Shri Virendra Kumar
Union Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
Shastri Bhawan, C-Wing, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road
New Delhi 110011
India

Copy to:

Shri Vijay Sampla, Chairperson
National Commission for Scheduled Castes
5th Floor, Lok Nayak Bhawan, Khan Market
New Delhi 110003
India

We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned about the recent amendments to the guidelines for the National Overseas Scholarship, which excludes students intending to pursue further education and research from working on “[t]opics/courses concerning Indian [c]ulture/heritage/[h]istory/[s]ocial studies on India”. 

As members of the international academic community, as scholars of India, as scientists who stand for academic freedom and the importance of affirmative action, we are dismayed that the Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment has taken such a unilateral and unjustified decision. We strongly object to these restrictions and call on the authorities to use the powers at their behest to retract them with immediate effect, to ensure students  from marginalised communities can pursue education and conduct research in all fields and in universities around the world.  

The National Overseas Scholarship was instituted in 1954–55 as a reparative justice measure against the exploitation and exclusion enforced by the caste system which is deeply codified in the Indian sub-continent and in existence for centuries. When first designed, the scholarship only covered the natural sciences, but a ground-breaking policy change in 2012 opened up the scholarship to students from across the academic spectrum. This has ensured that international scholarship of Indian culture, history, and society includes and reflects the voices, experiences, and domains of knowledge that have been historically excluded from or been largely secondarily represented in the canon in these fields. The scheme helped internationalise studies on India, as scholars could make new connections across cultures and histories that were not earlier visible. Not only did this enrich scholarship about India but lessons learned here could be applied elsewhere and thus advance the social sciences, arts and humanities more broadly. 

The argument that one need not go abroad to study India is intellectually flawed and will only serve to isolate Indian scholarship from the rest of the world. International scientific networks are highly globally integrated. Universities around the world have thriving departments and research centres on South Asia, and it is vital that scholars and researchers from marginalised backgrounds in India contribute to and participate in these international networks and research centres. In fact all knowledge of India’s cultures and traditions is inextricably indebted to the perspectives of those who belong to India’s historically oppressed communities. 

It is crucial that scholarship on India retains an international character, not least because Indian migrants have travelled across and settled in all the continents, and the study of Indian languages, cultures, histories, art forms, societal and political developments can never be territorially cut off from India’s interactions with other parts of the world. 

The amendments also attest to a lack of understanding of how interdisciplinary research is conducted today, where natural sciences, law, history, sociology and the humanities work together beyond national boundaries. At the same time, it is to be noted that female applicants for the scholarship, who are already disproportionately under-represented in scientific and technological disciplines and tend to more easily find opportunities in the Social Sciences and Humanities, will be affected the most by the policy changes. Denying National Overseas Scholarship holders the possibility to study “topics related to India” is an unwarranted and unacceptable restriction of their academic freedom. Scholars of the Humanities and Social Sciences have enriched the international academic communities at their host institutions, playing the role of cultural ambassadors and cultural translators of contemporary India. 

The current reversal of the policy comes at a time when we are also witnessing other developments to push back the gains from the various reparative justice and affirmative action measures that have been in place for the past seven decades. A high percentage of reserved posts across faculties of Indian central universities and other higher education institutions such as the institutes of technology and management are vacant, ostensibly because no suitable candidates applied. Doctoral posts also remain similarly unfilled. In addition both students and faculty from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe backgrounds have reported caste-based discrimination resulting in forced resignations and several deaths

Increased privatisation of education as per the New Education Policy 2021 also means that reservations will increasingly reduce as private institutions are not obliged to participate in this scheme. The NEP2021 is also designed to push students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds back towards ‘hereditary’ occupations. Recent reports show a significant backward trend in the state of education in Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe communities due to, for example, reductions in the educational budget including scholarships, and the push towards more online education in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

The scholars who have so far been the beneficiaries of the National Overseas Scholarship have contributed to the growing body of rich, multi-faceted, critical scholarship on India. Rather than being restricted and limited in their possibilities, and having to face various institutional and structural barriers, they deserve all the support and freedom possible. Their increasing visibility and participatory parity in academic spaces abroad and within India would only be an indication of India’s democratic potential and seriousness to make world-class education accessible to all Indian citizens. 

The National Overseas Scholarship offers India’s most brilliant minds the opportunities to produce the critiques that are vital for establishing a just and inclusive society in India, one that in fact would raise our international prestige, rather than lower it.

We urge you to take into consideration these points and call for the immediate withdrawal of this policy change.

#SaveNOS

PLEASE FILL THE GOOGLE FORM BELOW TO SUPPORT THIS CAMPAIGN, THANK YOU.

Institutional and Organisational Signatories

International Solidarity for Academic Freedom in India (InSAF India), global
National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights - Dalit Arthik Adhikar Andolan (NCDHR-DAAA), India
DBAV Womxn* Collective, global
Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Edinburgh, UK
Centre for Modern Indian Studies, University of Göttingen, Germany
American Anthropological Association, USA
American Sociological Association, USA
NYU Department of Anthropology, New York University, USA
University and College Union (UCU), Glasgow Branch, UK
Scholars At Risk, USA
Irish Second-Level Students' Union (ISSU), Ireland
Students Against Hindutva Ideology, USA
Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions, Europe
Anti-Caste Discrimination Alliance, UK
Dalit Solidarity Forum in the USA
Women’s Against Caste, UK
Equality Labs, USA
Pen International, USA
Fule Ambedkari Rastriya Student-Parents Organization, India
Scottish Indians for Justice, UK
South Asia Solidarity Group, UK
The Humanist Project, Australia
Coalition of Seattle Indian Americans, USA
Boston Study Group, USA
Hindus for Human Rights, USA
Indian American Muslim Council, USA
Foundation The London Story, the Netherlands
Coalition Against Fascism in India, USA
India Civil Watch International, North America
International Coalition for Justice, global
Boston South Asian Coalition, USA
CAR Twin Cities Chapter, Campaign Against Racism, USA
Northwest New Mexico Campaign Against Racism Chapter, USA
Pedagogy of the Digitally Oppressed Collective

For individual signatories, please see below the endorsement form.

 

Individual endorsements (selected)

Sumedh Umrajkar, ABUK, UKUsha I., Department of History, Stanford University, USA
Felix Pal, Australian National University, Australia
Kalpana Wilson, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
Venkat Maroju, Boston Study Group, USA
Siddharth Ramachandran, Boston University, USA
Toni Eyssallenne, Campaign Against Racism/NYC CHAPTER, USA
Aarti Bhatt, CAR/CAR MN, USA
Devika Karnad, Cardiff University, UK
Leonie Smith, Cardiff University, UK
Samina Yasmeen, Center for Muslim States and Societies, University of Western Australia, Australia
Lalita du Perron, Center for South Asia, USA
Shyam Pisharody, Chalmers University of Technology, USA
Kanthi Iyer, Coalition of Seattle Indian Anericans, USA
Soumya Vats, Columbia University, USA
Vikas Tatad, Columbia University, USA
Jayashree Kamble, CUNY LaGuardia, USA
Swati Kamble, Dalit Bahujan Adivasi Vimukt Womxn Collective, Belgium
Murali Shanmugavelan, Data and Society, USA
Yamini Narayanan, Deakin University, Australia
Tara Saharan, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Shai Ginsburg, Duke University, USA
Jyothi Rengarajan, Emory University, USA
Sangeeta Chatterji, independent, USA
Anne Marie Collins, Equal Health, Spain
Avana Pal, Equality Labs, USA
Vivek Narayanan, George Mason University, USA
Jamie B. Lewis, Georgia Gwinnett College, USA
Toni Eyssallenne, Global Campaign Against Racism-NYC CHAPTER, USA
Anthony Faramelli, Goldsmiths, University of London, USA
Andy Swarna, GREAT TRUTH, USA
Suraj Yengde, Harvard University, UAE
Prashik Manwatkar, Illinois institute of technology Chicago, USA
Yashica Dutt, Independent, USA
Aparna Sundar, Independent scholar, Canada
Bharat Rathod, India Civil Watch International, USA
Dolly Arjun, India Rural Health, USA
Paramjit Basi, India Worker's Association, UK
Laila Kadiwal, IOE-UCL, UK
Gary Michael Tartakov, Iowa State University, USA
Shiva Sikdar, Keele University, UK
Shalini Sharma, Keele University, UK
Karen Twigg, La Trobe Uni, Australia
Katherine Ellinghaus, La Trobe University, Australia
Ruth Gamble, La Trobe University, Australia
Bernard Keo, La Trobe University, Australia
Portia Dilena, La Trobe University, Australia
Timothy Jones, La Trobe University, Australia
Katie Holmes, La Trobe University, Australia
Liz Conor, La Trobe University, Australia
Claudia Haake, La Trobe University, Australia
Dr Yves Rees, La Trobe University, Australia
Ian Woolford, La Trobe University, Australia
Douglas Gay, Theology and Religious Studies, University of Glasgow, UK
Sai Englert, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Alpa Shah, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
Shivani Rao, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
Professor Alpa Shah, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
Subodh Patil, Lorentz Center for Theoretical Physics, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Khushi Himatlal, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Minakshi Menon, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, Germany
Narendra Subramanian, McGill University, Canada
Professor Farrah Ahmed, Melbourne Law School, Australia
Lisa McLaughlin, Miami University, USA
Andrea Westby, MInnesota chapter of the National Campaign Against Racism, USA
Mridula Nath Chakraborty, Monash University, Australia
Vasanthakumar, Independent, Australia
Maithili Madhusudanan, Independent, Germany
Monalisa Barman, Independent, USA
Derrie Susan Varghese, Independent, USA
Enver MOtala, Nelson Mandela University South Africa, South Africa
Paula Chakravartty, New York University, USA
Tejaswini Ganti, New York University, USA
Niharika, Niharika, UK
Arundhati Velamur, NYU Steinhardt, USA
Pranav Jani, Ohio State University, USA
Emer Neville, on behalf of the Irish Second-Level Students' Union (ISSU), Ireland
Upendra Sonpimple, PhD Student University of Edinburgh, UK
Srirupa Roy, Professor, University of Göttingen, Germany
Dr Tanzil Chowdhury, Queen Mary University of London, UK
Siddharth Chakravarty, Queen Mary University of London, UK
Asima Abidi, Radboud Medical College, The Netherlands
Dr Everard Jacob Windgassen, RCPsych, UK
Paul Eisenberg, Retired professor, USA
Ruth De Souza, RMIT University, Australia
Janhavi Verma, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA
Umair Khan, Scottish Indians for Justice, UK
Rabia Khan, SOAS, United Kingdom
Jo Krishnakumar, SOAS South Asia Institute and Department of Anthropology and Sociology, UK
Jens Lerche, SOAS Univerisity of London, UK
Pallavi Roy, SOAS University of London, UK
Jens Lerche, SOAS University of London, UK
Amrita Shodhan, SOAS, University of London, UK
Eleanor Newbigin, SOAS, University of London, UK
Theresa Rose Sebastian, Social & Climate Justice Activist, Ireland
Chinnaiah Jangam, South Asian Dalit and Adivasi Network, Canada, Canada
Jyotsna Kapur, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, USA
Anna Bigelow, Stanford University, USA
Roanne L. Kantor, Stanford University, USA
Sharika Thiranagama, Stanford University, USA
Usha I, Stanford University, USA
Dr. Martin Arnold, Stiftung Kraft der Gewaltfreiheit - Power of nonviolence foundation, Germany
Mohamed Musthafa, Student, Sweden
Ashok Danavath, student, The Netherlands
Harshali Nagrale, Student, UK
Himika Bhattacharya, SU, USA
Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt, The Australian National University, Australia
Haroon Kasim, The Humanism Project, Australia
Professor Dave Hill, The Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies; Anglia Ruskin University, England, UK
Rebecca Tarlau, The Pennsylvania State University, USA
Shrikant Wad, The University of Edinburgh, UK
Krishna Pillai, TU Delft, The Netherlands
Ketan Dandare, UCL Institute of Education, UK
Jonathan Nkalubo, Uganda Social Medicine Consortium Chapter, Uganda
Sujata Patel, Umea University, Sweden
Sriranjan Thirumalai, United Consulting, USA
Dr. James Deutsch, Univ. of Toronto, Canada
Dr. Sharae Deckard, Univeristy College Dublin, Ireland
Dyuti Chakravarty, University College Dublin, Ireland
Maggie Paul, University of Adelaide, Australia
Sruti Bala, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Ronak Gupta, University of British Columbia, Canada
Ronak M Soni, University of Cambridge, UK
Priyamvada Gopal, University of Cambridge, UK
Dheepa Sundaram, University of Denver, USA
Hugo Gorringe, University of Edinburgh, UK
Anjali Dalal, University Of Edinburgh, UK
Roger Jeffery, University of Edinburgh, UK
Patricia Jeffery, University of Edinburgh, UK
Chandreyee Goswami, University of Edinburgh, UK
Muireann Crowley, University of Edinburgh, UK
Pranjal Nayak, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Akanksha Sharma, University of Georgia, USA
Ramona Fotiade, University of Glasgow, UK
Ophira Gamliel, University of Glasgow, Lecturer in South Asian Religions, UK
Prof. Rupa Viswanath, University of Göttingen, Germany
Lisa Herzog, University of Groningen, Netherlands
Prof Salim Vally, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Gangadhar Tambre, University of Leeds, UK
Deana Heath, University of Liverpool, UK
Dr Karen Evans, University of Liverpool, UK
Bin Yang, University of Macao, China
Anindita Ghosh, University of Manchester, UK
Subhayan, University of Maryland, USA
Louise Antony, University of Massachusetts, USA
Urmi Dutta, University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA
Dolly Kikon, University of Melbourne, Australia
Sriram Mohan, University of Michigan, USA
Kriti Budhiraja, University of Minnesota, USA
Dr Peter D Jone, University of New England, Australia
Nisha Thapliyal, University of Newcastle, Australia
Aditi Premkumar, University of oxford, USA
Shruti, University of Oxford, UK
Ania Loomba, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Neepa Majumdar, University of Pittsburgh, USA
Priya Jaikumar, University of Southern California, USA
Rahul Rao, University of St Andrews, UK
Professor David Hardiman, University of Warwick, UK
Annapurna Menon, University of Westminster, UK
Dilip Menon, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Lotika Singha, University of Wolverhampton, UK
Professor Meena Dhanda, University of Wolverhampton, UK
Balmurli Natrajan, William Paterson University, USA
Joel Lee, Williams College, Massachussetts, USA
Barbara Harriss-White, Wolfson College, Oxford University, UK
Vandana Sanjay, Women against Caste, UK
Ruth Faleolo, La Trobe University, Australia
DARSHANA SREEDHAR MINI, UW-Madison,
Larry Prochner, Department of Educational Policy Studies, University of Alberta, Canada
Dia Da Costa, University of Alberta,
Chetan Dave, Dept. of Economics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Dominik Wujastyk, University of Alberta, Canada
Dr Tim Scrase, Australia India Institute, University of Melbourne, Australia
Anirban Kapil Baishya, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
Aneil Rallin, Soka University of America, USA
Anjani Gupta, Independent, Haryana
Harshwardhan Kamble, University of Birmingham, U.K.
Madhav G. Badami, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Yogesh Chandrani, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Andrea Pinkney, McGill University, Canada
Dr. Ajay Parasram, Dalhousie University, Canada
Dr. Anne Murphy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Canada
Ritika Kaushik, University of Chicago, Chicago
Jayeeta Sharma, University of Toronto, Canada
S Sunya, University of Virginia, USA
Dip Kapoor, University of Alberta, Canada
Shreya Singh, University of Queensland, Australia
Bradley Hughes, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
Sianan Healy, La Trobe University, Australia
Shivani Upadhayay, UC Berkeley, California, USA
Pamela Price, University of Oslo, Norway
Anita Lal, Poetic Justice Foundation, Canada
Skand, Oregon State University Corvallis, USA
Aspi Balsara, Memorial University, St. John's, USA
Henrik Ågren, Uppsala University, Sweden
Karen Nakamura, UC Berkeley, USA
Andrew Wooyoung Kim, UC Berkeley Anthropology, USA
Jun Sunseri, UC Berkeley, USA
Sabrina Agarwal, University of California Berkeley, USA
Charles Hirschkind, University of California Berkeley, USA
Junko Habu, University of California Berkeley, USA
Aarti Sethi, University of California Berkeley, USA
Sebastian Berger, Global Student Forum, Belgium
Pavan Malreddy, Goethe University, Germany