New Delhi: Amid row over the arrest of a Jawaharlal Nehru University student on sedition charges, a top official of the University of Chicago has said he is watching the developments with “concern”, but will not judge recent actions of the students and the government.
University of Chicago has academic collaborations with various Indian institutions, including JNU and the Delhi University.
“I am not going to judge recent actions by the schools, by the students or by the government, but you know I watch it (incidents at JNU) with concern because I care about the people there,” University of Chicago’s Vice-President for Global Engagement Ian Solomon told PTI.
There has been an escalating row in the wake of the arrest of JNUSU leader Kanhaiya Kumar over sedition charges, with the university’s faculty members, among others, protesting against the move.
Solomon said the university values the collaborations and partnerships with various Indian institutions.
“… we value those collaborations, those partnerships very much. And we want those schools to continue to be leading institutions in this country and continue doing great research and being great places for teaching,” he noted.
Currently, the University of Chicago has some 400 Indian students on its campus. Besides, a number of people with Indian roots are associated with the university, Solomon said.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan is also a professor at the university. Currently, he is on leave as the Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the Booth School.
–PTI