JNU fallout: Petition wants Murty Classical Library to remove editor

BENGALURU: Those aware of Pollock's work say petitioners misrepresent Pollock to achieve their end. In what seems to be a retaliation for his condemning the government's action against protesting students of Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, a group of 132 scholars has appealed to Infosys cofounder NR Narayana Murthy and Murty Classical Library of India ( MCLI) founder Rohan Murty to remove Professor Sheldon Pollock as general editor of the project.

An online petition on Change.org, created by Prof K Balasubramanian, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay, said Pollock “is a prominent signatory of two recent statements released by US academicians condemning the actions of the JNU authorities and the Government of India against separatist groups who are calling for the independence of Kashmir.“

They also questioned Pollock's scholarship, objectivity and authority on Indology. Alleging that Pollock echoed the views of Macaulay and Max Weber, they said in the petition that the Columbia University scholar “has deep antipathy towards many of the ideals and values cherished and practised in our civilisation.“

Pollock has been at the helm of MCLI's editorial board since January 2015 and has released nine books spanning two volumes in the past year. Four books in the third volume are under production.Those aware of Pollock's work held that the signatories “misrepresent Pollock to achieve their end.“

The petition, besides being addressed to Rohan Murty , is also directed at his father NR Narayana Murthy , who has no direct role in the MCLI. At at the time of going to press, the peti tion had 9,336 supporters.

Signatories of the petition include Ramesh C Bhardwaj, Department of Sanskrit, Delhi University; Kapil Kapoor, former pro vice-chancellor, JNU; Madhu Kishwar, senior fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies; R Vaidyanathan, finance and control UTI Chair Professor, IIM Bangalore; N Gopalaswami, former chief election commissioner of India. Twenty academicians from Bengaluru -some from IIMB and IISc -also signed the petition.

MCLI, instituted with an endowment of `32 crore by Rohan Murty , has published translations of ancient vedic texts, including Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas, Abu' l-Fazl's Akbar nama, Bharavi's Kiratarjuniya, Bullhe Shah's Sufi lyrics, and Surdas's poetry. Its objective is to produce fourfive high-quality , low-cost volumes every year.