I am leaving my books to the library at Shiv Nadar University. It was a difficult decision as I had initially intended to leave them to JNU. Apart from a substantial number on early Indian history, there are quite a large number on other subjects. Now that JNU and state-financed universities have to conform to the new orders from the government that amount to discouraging intellectual activity in universities, I don’t feel like giving the books there. If students are to be discouraged from thinking freely, they will also be discouraged from reading widely and being familiar with diverse views. There has to be a reasonable certainty that they will go to a place where they will be looked after and where the readership will be large and appreciative. SNU’s promise to care for them was attractive.
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