Backlash results from cancellation on Indian state minister

The decision to rescind Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation as the keynote speaker of the Wharton India Economic Forum has resulted in substantial backlash since it was first announced Sunday.

“For India, you can think of few greater national insults to invite a chief democratically-elected politician and cancel,” said Perelman School of Medicine professor of surgery Aseem Shukla, who is also a co-founder of the Hindu American Foundation.

Modi’s invitation was rescinded by the organizers of WIEF after a petition led by three Penn professors — English professors Ania Loomba and Suvir Paul and School of Social Policy and Practice assistant professor Toorjo Ghose — was sent to them. Since then, two corporate sponsors of the forum have pulled out in addition to four other prominent guests.

Many have seen the decision to rescind the invitation as a mistake on the part of the organizers.

“I believe it violates all established norms of civilized engagement,” electrical and systems engineering professor Saswati Sarkar said. “That’s not the manner in which we engage with each other, rescinding an invitation.”

Shukla also did not agree with the decision, saying, “They’re taking a major hit to the reputation of this forum. The Wharton India Economic Forum had enjoyed a very real, profound prestige which is now compromised.”

Sarkar added that she was concerned about the decision-making process to rescind the invitation itself. It seemed “the cancellation was arrived at … without hearing all possible points of view,” she said.

Ghose said he was not in contact with the organizers, despite sending them the petition. He found out that Modi had been replaced when members of the Indian press first contacted him on Sunday night.

The organizers of WIEF did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Another issue that has been raised was whether the decision has infringed on free speech rights.

“Some found the views of Mr. Modi objectionable — then the question is, shouldn’t those views be challenged?” Sarkar asked.

2004 Wharton graduate Rishi Bhutada believes that in this case, the professors have abused their authority “by putting this petition [out] and aiming it at the student organized conference.”

Bhutada recalled feeling that Penn was always a place where free speech was valued because it was founded by Benjamin Franklin. With this particular instance, he feels the respect for free speech rights has been breached. “I always got the impression that faculty respected that [and] I feel that’s been violated here.”

“When universities start limiting who can speak, it harms the academic vision of the university,” he added.

Ghose said he did not believe it was a free speech issue because Modi had been invited as an honored, plenary speaker and this position was “tantamount to the conference endorsing his development ideas.”

“We are under no obligation as an institution to endorse his brand of politics and that’s exactly what we would have done” had the invitation gone through, Ghose said.

The controversy with the forum has also spread to other participants.

The Adani Group, which was a platinum sponsor of the forum, was the first company to pull out. Hexaware Technologies, a software company, soon followed.

According to Shukla, four other guests, including the head of the Adani Group, have also since declined their invitations to attend the conference.

Modi was initially invited because “the student organizing body was extremely impressed with Mr. Modi’s credentials, governance ideologies and leadership,” according to a press release from WIEF given to NDTV India.

Modi is a controversial yet popular figure in India, known for leading economic development in his state. He is currently seen as a viable candidate for the role of India’s next prime minister.

However, Modi has been accused of not playing an active role in stopping the 2002 riots against Muslims in the state of Gujarat. He has been denied a visa to enter the United States since 2005.

Though Modi has been praised for his economic development of the state of Gujarat, Ghose, who has done work with poor communities in India, points to figures that show Gujarat among the bottom five states in India in the categories of malnutrition and world hunger index. “His state is the worst in India in feeding its children,” he said.

“If you can’t feed your own kids, you can’t be reached out to as a development expert,” Ghose added.

Although Modi is no longer scheduled to speak at the forum, after being replaced with Arvind Kejriwal, the signatures have kept on “pouring in” for the petition, Ghose said. There are now “well over 300 signatures.”

In addition, Ghose is pleased with the way that the discussion of the issue has turned out. “It helped to open the debate about the appropriateness of inviting him to speak as the honorary speaker.”

“I’m happy about how it went down at our university,” he added. “Both Wharton and Penn engaged in the dialectical process.”

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