STATEMENT BY SCHOLARS ON THE ORDEAL OF PROFESSOR

ARUPJYOTI SAIKIA

We, a group of Indian scholars and academics from across the country,
write in distress and with concern with regard to the ongoing ordeal of
Professor Arupjyoti Saikia. Professor Saikia is one of the country’s most
distinguished and respected historians. The author most recently of a
landmark history of the Brahmaputra River, he has also written significant
works on forest and agrarian history. For his contributions to scholarship,
Professor Saikia is hugely admired, indeed venerated, in his native Assam.
He also has a very high reputation nationally and even internationally,
with his scholarship recognized by a prestigious fellowship from Yale
University.

Professor Saikia is an adornment to the literary and intellectual world of

Assam and of India. He is also an individual of high moral character;
gentle, soft-spoken, and utterly non-violent. His devotion to his students at
IIT Guwahati is exemplary. That a scholar of such standing, and a human
being of such decency, has been called for intensive grilling by the
National Investigative Agency is deeply distressing. We urge that the NIA
treat him with the dignity and respect he deserves, and allow him to
continue his professional work unimpeded.

Dr Sukanta Chaudhuri, Professor Emeritus, Department of English, Jadavpur

University, Kolkata
Dr Ramachandra Guha, Satish Dhawan Visiting Professor, Centre for Society
and Policy, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
Professor Niraja Gopal Jayal, Centre for the Study of Law and Governance,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Professor Partha Chatterjee, former Director, Centre for Studies in Social
Sciences, Kolkata
Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Department of Political Science, Ashoka
University
Professor Geetha Venkataraman, Department of Mathematics, Ambedkar
University
Professor Samantak Das, Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur
University, Kolkata
Professor Amita Baviskar, Department of Environmental Studies, Ashoka
University
Ramaswamy Sudarshan, Dean, School of Government and Public Policy, OP
Jindal Global University
Dr Harini Nagendran, Professor of Sustainability, Azim Premji University,
Bangalore
Dr M. D. Madhusudhan, Co-Founder, Nature Conservation Foundation,
Mysore
Dr Venu Madhav Govindu, Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian
Institute of Science, Bengaluru
Professor Rajeshwari S. Raina, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shiv
Nadar University
Professor Subhashis Banerjee, Department of Computer Science, Indian
Institute of Technology, New Delhi
Professor Srinath Raghavan, Department of International Relations, Ashoka
University
Dr Sharachchandra Lele, Distinguished Fellow, Ashoka Trust for Research in
Ecology and the Environment, Bengaluru
Dr Geetanjoy Sahu, Centre for Science, Technology, and Society, Tata Institute
of Social Sciences, Mumbai
Gautam Bhadra, Honorary Professor, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences,
Kolkata.
Dr Supriya Chaudhuri, Professor Emerita, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
Professor Nandini Sundar, Department of Sociology, Delhi University
Professor Nayanjot Lahiri, Department of History, Ashoka University
Dr Dinesh Mohan, Honorary Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, New
Delhi
Professor Mahesh Rangarajan, Department of History, Ashoka University
Jatindra Kumar Nayak, Professor of English (Retired), Utkal University
Professor A. R. Venkatachalapathy, Tamil historian and writer, Chennai
Dr Manu V Devadevan, Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Technology,
Mandi
Professor Nivedita Menon, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi
Professor Amitabh Joshi, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific
Research, Bengaluru
Professor Enakshi Bhattacharya, Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian
Institute of Technology, Madras
Dr Indira Chowdhury, Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology,
Bengaluru
Professor Suresh Govindarajan, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of
Technology, Madras, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
Professor K Srilata, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian
Institute of Technology, Madras
Dr Janaki Nair, Professor of History (Retired), Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi
Dr Vishwesha Guttal, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of
Science, Bengaluru
Dr Rahi Soren, School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University,
Kolkata
Professor K. V. Subrahmanyam, Chennai Mathematical Institute, Chennai
Dr Anindiya Sinha, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru
Professor Arnab Rai Choudhuri, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of
Science, Bengaluru
Professor Sudhir Chella Rajan, Department of Humanities and Social
Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Dr Raziuddin Aquil, Department of History, Delhi University
Professor Rita Kothari, Department of English, Ashoka University
Kishalay Bhattarcharya, Associate Professor, OP Jindal Global University