New Delhi, July 9: The chairman of executive council of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library- India’s premier institute for research on modern and contemporary history- Karan Singh told The Telegraph today that historian Mahesh Rangarajan would be its next director.
Rangarajan, a renowned environment historian and former journalist with this paper, was mailed his appointment letter yesterday, said Singh. He was chosen by a selection committee comprising of Karan Singh- a Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha, Balmiki Prasad Singh- governor of Sikkim and former home and culture secretary and, Nitin Desai- economist and former adviser to UN Secretary General.
The term of incumbent director Mridula Mukherjee expires on August 9. Her term, which began in 2006, has been plagued with controversies of flouting payment regulations, mis-utilization of funds and her alleged proximity to the Congress. In 2009, 57 scholars led by Ramachandra Guha had written to the prime minister against her being given an extension. Rangarajan was part of this campaign.
The latest controversy pertains to the selection of the new director. Historians Arjun Dev, Irfan Habib, Shireen Moosvi, Bipan Chandra and D. N. Gupta have filed a petition in the Delhi High court challenging the procedure of selection and the executive committee’s amendment of rules extending eligibility for director to even non-historians. In February, the Indian History Congress had unanimously passed a resolution asking the government to annul the changes amendment.
Speaking to this paper, Moosvi said, “The PIL has nothing to do with any individual. It is to highlight the malfunctioning of the NMML Society- which never met for a deacde… There were no historians on the selection committee. Besides, how can an appointment be made before the term of the present director is over.”
The petitioners have also alleged that Mukherjee has been restrained from her duties since May 2. The latter didn’t respond to repeated calls to her mobile phone from this correspondent.
Moosvi promptly pointed out that she had nothing against Rangarjan. In fact she was a visitor’s nominee with veto powers over his appointment to Delhi University, she claimed.
“I recommended him to DU despite him not having a single day’s teaching experience. Our fight is on principles. A premier institute of this country cannot run on the whims of former rajas (Karan Singh is the titular maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir). We want academics, not politicians, to run the place,” she said.
On Rangarajan’s selection, Ramchandra Guha said, “Finally, the government has got something right. Mahesh Rangarajan is the finest historian of his generation. He was chosen through an open and transparent process. Given proper support, he will certainly make the NMML a world-class institution.”
The appointment would be final only after Rangarajan and DU agree to his deputation to NMML. He said that he would only speak to the press after everything was finalized.
Modern historian S. Irfan Habib (not the Irfan Habib who filed the petition), of the National University of Educational Planning and Administration, said that he saw no reason for litigation over the issue.
“Search Committees normally announce the selection before the incumbent’s term ends. This is not the first time. Anyone wanting an extension shouldn’t stop the government to proceed with the selection. Besides the result is that a fairly younger history professor- who has been using the institute for a long time and who is competent to carry on the legacy on the institute- has been chosen,” he explained.
Another senior Marxist historian said that Rangarajan fears trouble from Marxists as he is seen in the company of post-modernists like Guha. “But we need to see people in a broader frame beyond ideological positions. He is open, progressive and secular and that is what India needs.”
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