Amid threats, Ramachandra Guha deletes beef tweet, says was in poor taste
Bengaluru, Dec 9: Two days after posting a photo of himself eating beef in Goa, noted historian and author Ramachandra Guha Sunday deleted the tweet, saying "it was in poor taste".
A known critic of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Guha said the controversial tweet was aimed at "flaying" the saffron party's "hypocrisy" on beef, while claiming that he had received threatening calls.
"I have deleted the photo of my lunch in Goa as it was in poor taste," he tweeted.
"I do wish, however, to again highlight the absolute hypocrisy of the BJP in the matter of beef," he said, adding that humans must have the right to eat, dress and fall in love as they choose.
In the now deleted tweet, Guha had shared a picture of himself enjoying beef and wrote-- "After a magical morning in Old Goa we had lunch in Panaji, where-since this is a BJP ruled state-I decided to eat beef in celebration."
Guha also replied to those who mocked him for eating beef despite being a Gandhian.
"Putting myself in the centre of the frame was exhibitionist and in poor taste. I could have made the same points in words, as I have done now," he said.
Earlier in the day, Guha had tweeted that he and his wife had received phone calls threatening them .
"I have received threatening calls from a man calling himself Sanjay from Delhi. He threatened my wife as well as me. This is for the record," he said in his first tweet.
Couple of minutes later, he posted another tweet levelling allegations against R K Yadav.
"This threatening tweet below is from a former official of the Research and Analysis Wing. I would like to place it on record, and will do with every subsequent threat received," Guha said replying to Yadav's post.
Yadav had tweeted, "If a Hindu eating beef & publicise it he is stigma on this religion. One Ramchandra Guha is doing so. He is trying to tease whole of Hindus by this dastardly action of such publicity. Shd be given befitting reply."
Despite repeated attempts, Guha could not be reached for his reaction.
I have deleted the photo of my lunch in Goa as it was in poor taste. I do wish however to again highlight the absolute hypocrisy of the BJP in the matter of beef, and to reiterate my own belief that humans must have the right to eat, dress, and fall in love as they choose.
— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) December 9, 2018
This threatening tweet below is from a former official of the Research and Analysis Wing. I would like to place it on record, and will do with every subsequent threat received. https://t.co/MrG7AVL15U
— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) December 9, 2018
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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