Making clear that Viswanathan Anand's nationality was never in question, HRD minister Kapil Sibal said on Tuesday, "Procedural error has led to problems regarding the doctorate to Anand. Immediate corrective action was taken and I told him that we are sorry for what has transpired. It should not take time (to implement such decisions) but sometimes it happens. I told him that the honorary degree could be conferred today itself. He indicated to me that he had some problem about this evening. Then I told him any date of his convenience for the function was okay. He has accepted it." An aggrieved Anand, who is reported to have asked for his country back after his nationality was questioned, seemed adequately assuaged. "I consider the matter resolved," he said. "It's time to move on. The silver lining is that at least everyone now knows that I am Indian. Whenever I play, I've always played under the Indian flag. I lived and trained in Spain for some time, but I used to travel back and forth between India and Spain. I have now shifted base back to India."
Anand's wife Aruna, who was livid at the way things had played out, struck a conciliatory note, but not before making a pointed statement. "Anand has only one passport," she said. "And that is Indian. Mr Sibal did call Anand and apologized, so we will leave it at that." Explaining their stand, HRD ministry sources said Anand's name was among the six who were to be awarded the doctorate in UoH's regular convocation on June 22. The file was cleared by Sibal on May 22 and sent to President Pratibha Patil's office as she is the visitor. But Rashtrapati Bhavan on June 2 raised queries about one individual - not Anand - in the list of six and returned the entire proposal.
UoH's fresh, curtailed proposal that did not include Anand's name came to HRD on June 18, and by June 21 the ministry got it cleared from Rashtrapati Bhavan. Those conferred a doctorate then included former RBI governor C Rangarajan and dancers Raja and Radha Reddy. As for the present controversy, it was in July that UoH sent a list of people it wanted to award doctorates to. But the proposal neither mentioned the date nor the fact that it will be given during the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) where Anand was to play against 40 mathematicians simultaneously. The list included names of Anand, renowned mathematician David Mumford and theatre director Ebrahim Alkazi.
As mandated, all foreign names have to be cleared by the ministry of external affairs. UoH officials had apparently said that Anand is a citizen of Spain and neither is Alkazsi an Indian national. The ministry was also not told that the function was on August 23. A detailed note from the ministry was sent to the UoH on August 11 and the formal proposal from the university came on August 18. Two days later, the ministry informed that the doctorate is to be awarded on August 23 and post-facto approval was sought. By then it was too late to seek clearance from Rashtrapati Bhavan.
UoH, of course, blamed the HRD ministry for causing Anand such trouble. The university said the situation arose due to MHRD's "insensitive bureaucratic obstruction". In a press statement, it alleged: "The idea of conferring the honorary doctorate on Viswanathan Anand was mooted as early as in October 2009. Despite repeated follow-up by the university, the MHRD did not forward this proposal for signature by the President of India." Since MHRD officials had not cleared the file which was to be moved to the President for approval, the special convocation on August 22 had to be cancelled. University authorities had, however, not informed Anand that the honour will not be bestowed as they expected MHRD to give approval at the last moment.
University vice chancellor Seyed E Hasnain said that such situations had come up earlier too. "When the university wanted to confer an honorary doctorate on Jagdish N Bhagwati, the renowned economist, a similar delay had taken place as he was a US citizen and professor at Columbia University, US. After many requests the permission was granted only on the day of the convocation. We were expecting something similar," Hasnain said.
Anand's wife Aruna, who was livid at the way things had played out, struck a conciliatory note, but not before making a pointed statement. "Anand has only one passport," she said. "And that is Indian. Mr Sibal did call Anand and apologized, so we will leave it at that." Explaining their stand, HRD ministry sources said Anand's name was among the six who were to be awarded the doctorate in UoH's regular convocation on June 22. The file was cleared by Sibal on May 22 and sent to President Pratibha Patil's office as she is the visitor. But Rashtrapati Bhavan on June 2 raised queries about one individual - not Anand - in the list of six and returned the entire proposal.
UoH's fresh, curtailed proposal that did not include Anand's name came to HRD on June 18, and by June 21 the ministry got it cleared from Rashtrapati Bhavan. Those conferred a doctorate then included former RBI governor C Rangarajan and dancers Raja and Radha Reddy. As for the present controversy, it was in July that UoH sent a list of people it wanted to award doctorates to. But the proposal neither mentioned the date nor the fact that it will be given during the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) where Anand was to play against 40 mathematicians simultaneously. The list included names of Anand, renowned mathematician David Mumford and theatre director Ebrahim Alkazi.
As mandated, all foreign names have to be cleared by the ministry of external affairs. UoH officials had apparently said that Anand is a citizen of Spain and neither is Alkazsi an Indian national. The ministry was also not told that the function was on August 23. A detailed note from the ministry was sent to the UoH on August 11 and the formal proposal from the university came on August 18. Two days later, the ministry informed that the doctorate is to be awarded on August 23 and post-facto approval was sought. By then it was too late to seek clearance from Rashtrapati Bhavan.
UoH, of course, blamed the HRD ministry for causing Anand such trouble. The university said the situation arose due to MHRD's "insensitive bureaucratic obstruction". In a press statement, it alleged: "The idea of conferring the honorary doctorate on Viswanathan Anand was mooted as early as in October 2009. Despite repeated follow-up by the university, the MHRD did not forward this proposal for signature by the President of India." Since MHRD officials had not cleared the file which was to be moved to the President for approval, the special convocation on August 22 had to be cancelled. University authorities had, however, not informed Anand that the honour will not be bestowed as they expected MHRD to give approval at the last moment.
University vice chancellor Seyed E Hasnain said that such situations had come up earlier too. "When the university wanted to confer an honorary doctorate on Jagdish N Bhagwati, the renowned economist, a similar delay had taken place as he was a US citizen and professor at Columbia University, US. After many requests the permission was granted only on the day of the convocation. We were expecting something similar," Hasnain said.
Hai
ReplyDeleteHe is only Indian Chess player in our India, please....Don't go through the personal Issue....He is An Indian
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pannuru