Disheartened over scrapping of editorial board, advisory panel: ICHR member Ravindran

New Delhi: Breaking his silence, Gopinath Ravindran, who quit as member secretary of ICHR earlier this month, said he was “disheartened” over the Council’s decision to scrap the editorial board and the advisory committee of the prestigious Indian Historical Review, and the refusal of the chairperson to record his “disagreement”. [caption id=“attachment_2309768” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] ICHR Image.[/caption] “The journal was doing exceedingly well. Despite all the achievements, the editor was summarily removed. They also changed the entire advisory committee,” Ravindran told PTI. “Not only this. I insisted that my disagreement should be recorded over the scrapping of the committee. The chairperson told me on the phone you cannot disagree since your are the member secretary even as the Memorandum of Association shows that I am indeed a member of the council,” he said. Ravindran said he has been relieved for his post and has returned back to Jamia Milia Islamia University. Ravindran quit midway following sharp differences with chairperson of Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) Y Sudershan Rao over the functioning of the body. He was a UPA appointee and his three-year term was to expire in 2016. Differences between Ravindran and ICHR had become apparent ever since the Council’s decision to scrap the editorial board and the advisory committee of the prestigious Indian Historical Review, the ICHR’s journal, having eminent historians like Romila Thapar. Ravindran’s resignation comes amid growing concern in some quarters over the alleged saffronisation of ICHR. A couple of months back at a foundation day meeting, he had to face strong opposition from a section of the crowd when he voiced his disagreement over the views expressed by vedic scholar David Frawley. PTI