Was UPenn President behind the Wharton decision to drop Modi?

The decision to withdraw Narendra Modi as a keynote speaker at the Wharton India Economic Forum was no easy one. According to an article in the Hindustan Times , President of University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) Amy Gutmann, whose family fled Nazi Germany, could have influenced the decision.

The article further states that professors and administrators at the university were not surprised when UPenn asked Wharton to drop the Gujarat chief minister’s keynote address.

On Monday, an official statement from the Wharton India Economic Forum stated that Modi had been dropped from the list of keynote speakers. “As it stands currently, Mr. Modi’s keynote address at Wharton India Economic Forum has been cancelled”, it said.

“As a responsible student body within the University of Pennsylvania, we must consider the impact on multiple stakeholders in our ecosystem. Our team felt that the potential polarizing reactions from sub-segments of the alumni base, student body, and our supporters, might put Mr. Modi in a compromising position, which we would like to avoid at all costs, especially in the spirit of our conference’s purpose.”

The decision was taken after a section of students and professors wrote to the management condemning their decision to invite Modi as a keynote speaker. In a strongly worded letter, they said: “This is the same politician who was refused a diplomatic visa by the United States State Department on 18 March 2005 on the ground that he, as Chief Minister, did nothing to prevent a series of orchestrated riots that targeted Muslims in Gujarat.”

Reacting to the development, Modi’s party, the BJP, said it was unperturbed.” It doesn’t matter as Americans don’t vote in India”, said party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar. Shiv Sena leader Suresh Prabhu said however, that the decision by Wharton was an insult to India. “”Wharton’s move (to drop Modi) is an insult to India.”

Chairman of the Adani Group, Gautam Adani, has also canceled his Wharton visit apparently in support of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. His company, though, said Adani had backed-out of the event almost a fortnight ago in an apparent clarification that his absence is not related to the cancellation of Modi’s address.

Wharton India Economic Forum, is an annual student-run India-centric conference hosted by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.