Bengaluru- In a concerning display of institutional overreach, the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) has come under fire for what has been described as a "long-running vindictive harassment" against Dr. Deepak Malghan, an internationally recognized scholar and a leading public voice for institutional social diversity and inclusion.
The academic community, both within and outside India, has condemned the institute's actions, which have culminated in Dr. Malghan's demotion in March 2024. The Karnataka High Court has since intervened, staying the decision, but the incident raises troubling questions about the misuse of service rules to stifle academic freedom at one of India’s premier institutions.
Ambedkarites and academicians are coming together to sign a solidarity statement in support of Professor Deepak Malghan.
The statement reads, " Dr. Malghan is not just any academic—he is a respected figure in the field of ecological economics and institutional diversity." His work has transcended disciplinary boundaries, earning him accolades like the prestigious Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao Award in Social Sciences (2015) and the T N Khoshoo Memorial Award (2023). He is also an affiliated researcher with the Stockholm Environment Institute and served as an editor for the journal Ecological Economics between 2018 and 2023.
But beyond his scholarship, Dr. Malghan has been an outspoken advocate for social diversity and inclusion in India’s higher education system. He has challenged institutional inertia and questioned the growing sectarian influence on public institutions. His activism has evidently struck a nerve with entrenched interests at IIM Bangalore.
The recent demotion of Dr. Malghan is seen as the culmination of a series of retaliatory actions dating back to 2018. Over the years, Dr. Malghan has been censured, disciplined, and persecuted for his campaigns on issues such as corporate accountability, diversity in higher education, and resisting communal ideologies. Let’s take a closer look at the key campaigns that triggered the institute’s actions against him:
In June 2018, Dr. Malghan launched a campaign urging students at IIMB to disinvite Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) from placements due to the company's failure to address mercury poisoning at its Kodaikanal factory. This campaign, which brought attention to corporate negligence, was met with a censure order issued on October 17, 2018.
Later in 2018, Dr. Malghan co-authored a paper with Dr. Siddharth Joshi, exposing the acute social diversity deficit at various IIMs. Their research demonstrated how these premier institutions were deliberately dodging constitutional and statutory mandates to ensure diversity. This campaign for faculty diversity, which aligned with broader social justice efforts, earned him further institutional censure. In January 2019, Dr. Malghan was censured again, this time for criticizing IIMB in an interview with Scroll.in for its failure to address faculty diversity. As a result, the institute imposed a ban on his research funding and consultancy activities.
In more recent years, Dr. Malghan has been at the forefront of campaigns urging corporates to defund hate speech and communal ideologies. His activism, which was made public in an open letter to Corporate India, garnered support from sections of the IIMB faculty but also intensified the institutional backlash against him.
IIMB’s actions against Dr. Malghan appear to be part of a larger pattern of using administrative rules to punish faculty members who challenge the status quo. The institute has repeatedly invoked service rules, particularly those related to social media conduct and “academic integrity,” to initiate inquiries and impose penalties on Dr. Malghan.
One of the most alarming instances of this occurred in 2022 when IIMB initiated an inquiry against Dr. Malghan for two tweets posted on his personal Twitter account. The inquiry committee expanded its scope to include his articles on diversity in higher education. Though the committee found no violations of service rules, IIMB’s Disciplinary Committee disregarded these findings and imposed a penalty, withholding Dr. Malghan’s promotion for one year.
In 2023, a similar scenario unfolded when the institute initiated yet another inquiry based on a complaint from a Board Member about a single tweet by Dr. Malghan. Despite the fact that the tweet merely cited an RTI response about caste discrimination complaints at IIMB, the inquiry committee once again recommended disciplinary action.
In March 2024, IIMB demoted Dr. Malghan to the position of Assistant Professor for five years, along with reducing his basic pay and withholding annual increments.
This punitive action was swiftly challenged in the Karnataka High Court, which granted an injunction in favor of Dr. Malghan.
The ongoing persecution of Dr. Malghan raises broader concerns about the erosion of academic freedom in India. Service rules like those invoked by IIMB are increasingly being weaponized to stifle dissenting voices, particularly those that challenge institutional power structures or advocate for social justice. In Dr. Malghan’s case, his outspoken stance on corporate accountability, caste justice, and communal ideologies has made him a target.
The academic community has rallied behind Dr. Malghan, with many expressing solidarity and condemning IIMB’s actions as a violation of internationally accepted academic freedoms. As noted by the statement of solidarity, “It is a great shame that a premier institute like IIM (B) is violating an internationally accepted set of rights to Academic Freedom.”
The actions of IIMB against Dr. Malghan have drawn widespread criticism. Scholars, activists, and concerned citizens alike are calling on the institute to immediately cease its harassment and recognize the value of academic freedom. They demand that all sanctions against Dr. Malghan be withdrawn and that IIMB affirm its commitment to academic integrity.
The broader implications of this case are clear. If a scholar of Dr. Malghan’s stature can be subjected to such retaliatory actions, it sets a dangerous precedent for academic freedom in India. The right to dissent, to challenge institutional authority, and to advocate for social justice must be protected if India’s academic institutions are to remain spaces for free and open inquiry.
The solidarity statement concludes: “We condemn the use of service rules to stifle academic freedom. We call upon IIM Bangalore to desist from its harassment of Dr. Malghan and recognize his valuable contributions towards academic integrity.”
The Mooknayak has reached out via email to the IIMB management seeking their response, and the story will be updated as soon as a reply is received.
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