RSS and J-Schools: Why Ex-BJP Spokesperson Anil Saumitra was Appointed as IIMC Professor

The Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), India’s premier journalism school run by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, recently appointed Anil Saumitra, a former Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson, as a professor on October 26. Saumitra, former media cell head of the BJP’s Madhya Pradesh unit was suspended by the saffron party in 2019 for his comments on Mahatma Gandhi in a Facebook post calling Gandhi the “Father of the Nation of Pakistan” and “not so deserving son of the country.”

With the controversy around the appointment, Saumitra has now deactivated his Twitter and Facebook accounts. Apparently, he is also the convenor of Media Chaupal and has been convening programmes for mandatory military training for citizens.

Besides, Pramod Kumar Saini, who describes himself as the Chief News Coordinator for Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh’s (RSS) mouthpiece ‘Organiser,’ too has been appointed a professor at the institute. Saini was earlier serving as an Assistant Professor in the Central University of Himachal Pradesh.

In July this year, RSS sympathiser Sanjay Dwivedi was appointed the Director General of the institute. Dwivedi reportedly did not have necessary eligibilities for the top position and he allegedly fudged documents to secure the position. Dwivedi allegedly showed his work experience as the time he was studying in Makhanlal Chaturvedi Patrakarita University.

The case against Dwivedi goes back to 2015 when he was appointed a Reader at the Makhanlal Chaturvedi Patrakarita University in Madhya Pradesh allegedly without obtaining a PhD. Later, he was promoted to the post of professor and then made the Vice Chancellor of the University. The matter came to light when whistleblower Pramod Mishra filed his complaint through a writ petition. The slew of appointments naturally raised questions about the undue haste.

Speaking to NewsClick, a retired professor of IIMC who did not wish to be named said, “The universal norms and procedures laid by the University Grants Commission (UGC) were completely ignored in making the appointments. As per the rules, the candidates should have a PhD and ten years of teaching experience and industry experience. One cannot merge any of them. It is beyond my comprehension that how an assistant professor in one central university could be straight away promoted to professorship in another institution run by the central government.”

UGC regulations released in 2010 mandates that to appoint a candidate to the post of professor, he should be “an eminent scholar with Ph.D. qualification(s) in the concerned/allied/relevant discipline and published work of high quality, actively engaged in research with evidence of published work with a minimum of 10 publications as books and/or research/policy papers and a minimum of ten years of teaching experience in university/college, and/or experience in research at the University/National level institutions/industries, including experience of guiding candidates for research at doctoral level.”

Interestingly, Saini’s Curriculum Vitae at the website of Central University Himachal Pradesh fails to exhibit any teaching experience or experience in guiding candidates for research.

The retired professor added, “There is no doubt that these are political appointments but they are important for the government and the RSS too. They have been exerting their influence on state journalism universities but IIMC was still out of their control. Through the appointments, the RSS wants such trained journalists who could parrot its agenda without any hesitation.”

The RSS’ obsession with Journalism universities goes beyond the IIMC. Anusuya Uike, Governor of Chhatisgarh, appointed Baldev Bhai Sharma, former editor of Panchjanya, the Hindi mouthpiece of the RSS, as the Vice Chancellor of Kushabhau Thakre University. The episode led to a conflict between the Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and the governor. The government later changed the name of the University from Kushabhau Thakre Journalism and Mass Communication University to Chandulal Chandrakar University. Kushabhau Thakre served as the President of BJP and remained an influential figure of the RSS.

Vinay Sheel, an AIPC fellow who have been closely working the Chhattisgarh government, told NewsClick, “The governor appointed Sharma without any consultation with the state government. The RSS does not want to leave journalism schools alone and it has reflected in the saffronisation of subsequent batches passed out from the university. A journalist’s job is to imbibe democratic ideas and values in his conduct, it is not to see social developments through a coloured vision.”

In a separate incident, the tight grip of the RSS was again seen in April this year when Mukesh Jain, Adjunct Professor at Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Mass Communication, was sacked after he questioned the role of the RSS cadres who were manning the Telangana Police checkposts when nationwide lockdown was imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus.