SAU sacks Snehashish Bhattacharya; alumni allege he was 'singled out, hounded' for supporting due process

South Asian University (SAU) has terminated a senior faculty member of the Department of Economics, Snehashish Bhattacharya, drawing sharp condemnation from alumni and academics who allege that he was “singled out and hounded” for standing by due process during the 2022 student protests.

The termination letter was issued this month after more than two years of suspension and a recent show cause notice. Alumni have urged the Executive Council to exercise its voting powers and revoke the suspension, citing that the action is not only “unfair and unjust” but will also irreparably damage the reputation of SAU itself.

Why was Snehashish Bhattacharya terminated?

According to the letter written by the alumni of SAU to the executive council, “Among several faculty members who had written to the yniversity during the student unrest of Monsoon 2022 in support of due process and to uphold the interests of the University — an act that led to most of the allegations and charges against Dr. Bhattacharya — only he has been singled out.”

On June 16, the university suspended four faculty – Snehashish Bhattacharya, faculty of economics; Srinivas Burra, faculty of legal studies; Irfanullah Farooqi, department of sociology, faculty of social science; and Ravi Kumar, department of sociology, faculty of social science – for questioning the administration’s “arbitrary decisions”.

Even among the three faculty members currently at SAU who were suspended in June 2023 on exactly similar charges, he is the only one who continues to be under suspension and against whom a termination from service is being proposed.

No evidence against Bhattacharya

The former PhD scholars from SAU also pointed out that no evidence was presented during the disciplinary hearings to substantiate the charges of incitement.

The alumni of SAU said the charges against Bhattacharya, based on which he continues to remain under suspension and which now form the basis of a possible termination of his service, are “utterly absurd”.

He is the least likely person in SAU to ever incite students or anyone else against the interests and the good of the University, or to conduct himself in any way against the interests and statutes of SAU.

The students who were allegedly charged to have “incited” and other witnesses have not given “a single statement in support of these charges”. Despite having no evidence, “he remains the only faculty member still punished, despite three others facing “exactly similar charges” in 2023,” the alumni said.

Even during his suspension, alumni note, Prof. Bhattacharya continued mentoring MA and PhD candidates informally, ensuring they did not fall behind in their work. His classes on development economics, global political economy, and research methods were remembered as “intellectually transformative.”

“In light of Dr. Bhattacharya’s exceptional contributions to the University, the significant loss the University stands to incur by losing a scholar and teacher of his standing, and the patent unfairness, unreasonability, and shortsightedness of the proposed action against him…” the statement read.

“It will set a ghastly precedent regarding the treatment of those who dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to this institution,” they added.

Well-known academic and writer Apoorvanand took to X to respond to the recent development: “An atrocity by the SAU administration. Not a word from the colleagues of Dr. Snehashish! What kind of people have we become!”

More than 500 global academics in July 2023 requested the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) foreign ministers. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor Rohit Azad, who was invited to deliver a talk at SAU in March 2025, withdrew his name from the event in solidarity with two of his colleagues and students “who have kept up the resistance at SAU”.