Lora Santhakumar, the professor who was suspended by Chennai’s SRM University last month, demanded an inquiry into the source of the leaks of her personal information and her suspension letter which had led to online harassment, adding that she was not allowed an opportunity to defend herself before her suspension.
Lora, an Assistant Professor at the university’s Career Development Centre (CDC), was suspended on May 8 for expressing anti-war views via WhatsApp status in the backdrop of Operation Sindoor.
Read: The inside job: How an internal leak targeted a Chennai professor for anti-war posts
Replying to a memorandum of charges issued by the university against her alleging “unethical remarks against the country”, the professor on Wednesday, June 25 wrote that her comments were not against the nation and that they had been misconstrued and misinterpreted.
Denying the charge that she had brought disrepute on the university, the professor clarified that she had not identified herself as a professor of the university in her post. She stated that the WhatsApp number on which she had posted the status was personal and not linked to the university in any way. She also noted that the remarks in question were not posted on social media but as a personal WhatsApp status that was temporary in nature.
SRM University had on June 16 issued a memorandum of charges against Lora for alleged defamation and causing social unrest by means of a social media post. The memorandum alleged that she had identified herself as a professor of SRM University and caused “social media unrest”. It accused her of misconduct and stated that her actions constituted a criminal offence under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act, adding that she had hurt the reputation of the university.
In her response – a copy of which TNM has seen – Lora denied the charges that her message was “unethical” and “against national interests”.
“Article 19 (1) (a) grants citizens the right to freely express their thoughts, opinions and ideas. I have simply exercised my constitutional rights to peaceful expression in private. My remarks are not unethical. I did not post anything against national interest but insisted on the need to be friendly with neighbouring nations,” the professor replied.
While addressing the question of legal violations, she noted that the memorandum did not specify what provisions of the BNS Act she had violated.
Lora pointed out that she was not given a written complaint or evidence nor was she issued a show cause notice. She added that she was also not given an opportunity to defend herself before she was suspended. She noted that her suspension letter – which she received at 3 pm on May 8 – had already been circulating online and on news channels as early as 11.30 am that day, and demanded an internal inquiry into the source of the leak.
Lora also pointed out that her subsistence allowance had been halted after her suspension and was credited to her only on June 20.
After India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, the professor had posted a few WhatsApp statuses against the escalation in the conflict between India and Pakistan. Her statuses included messages like “All eyes on Poonch – Pak killed children, women, men irrespective of religion at Poonch. People who celebrate war, you and me will also become collateral damage. Celebrate war until then!” She also quoted novelist and poet George Orwell: “All war propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.” Following this, she was doxed and subjected to widespread online harassment by right-wing groups.
Also read: Academics urge SRM University to revoke professor’s suspension over anti-war views