Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 31 (ANI): Dayananda Sagar University Vice-Chancellor BS Satyanarayana on Friday urged political leaders to maintain "probity and dignity" in public discourse, warning against the pre-emptive discrediting of respected academic figures like IIT Madras Director Professor V Kamakoti following Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's "gaumutra expert" remark.
Speaking to ANI, BS Satyanarayana emphasised that public figures carry a heightened responsibility to exercise caution and avoid disparaging individuals who serve as non-partisan role models in academia and science.
"Our only request is that they should maintain probity; they should not disparage anybody else who is in public life and who is respected. Today there are very few honest, good leaders whom people respect, and especially those who have typically come from academic, scientific, or administrative domains, who are agnostic," Satyanarayana said.
Describing Professor Kamakoti as a role model who rose through the local education system, Satyanarayana highlighted his contributions to the nation's technological and academic landscape.
"Here you have a role model who has come from the local process. A professor who has not even qualified for JEE, but then he has risen from the rank of local education, then masters, PhD, and today developing India's processor or setting up best of companies in their campus. He has also headed the JEE exam, and it is one of the relatively less blemished exams in the country. Above all, he is equally well-read in Indian languages," he noted.
The Vice-Chancellor asserted that while there is room for disagreement, it should not lead to discrediting respected figures.
"If he has said something, he has a rationale, and I can differ with that; nothing wrong with that, but it should be with respect and dignity. I cannot discourage or discredit somebody just like that. So we request that especially people with better access and visibility have to be more circumspect in what they say," he added.
Satyanarayana expressed concern that disparaging experts who are working to improve systems--such as the examination process--hurts the aspirations of students.
"We feel that in such a situation, if effort is being made to develop a better process, and somebody is coming to disparage the people who are going to do that... so you discredit it even before it starts. Even before the child is born, you say the child is going to be disabled. It is unfair," the Vice-Chancellor remarked.
The professor's remarks come amid criticism from Vice-Chancellors, former Vice-Chancellors and senior academicians over Priyanka Gandhi's alleged reference to Professor Kamakoti as a "gaumutra expert" during a discussion in the Lok Sabha.
Professor Kamakoti is a member of a high-powered task force constituted by the Centre to recommend examination reforms.
Referring to the committee during the discussion, Priyanka Gandhi had said, "This committee includes an ex-IB chief, an IT company owner and a gaumutra expert."
Several academics have since called for an apology from the Congress MP, saying the remarks undermined the dignity of the academic community and were inappropriate given Kamakoti's academic and research credentials.

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This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.