Former Manipur University VC maintained that he is only a Co-Guide while the Main Supervisor is at the University Headquarters. A Co-Guide would only be consulted on selected areas as desired by the Research Scholar. The issue was first raised by the united group of students’ organizations in Manipur and that is exactly when he came to know of a content being objected to, he said
TFM Desk
Contentious portions Brig Sushil Kumar Sharma’s Ph.D thesis entitled “Socio-economic roots of insurgency in North East India” continued to haunt former Vice Chancellor of Manipur University Professor Amar Yumnam.
In a statement, Prof Amar who moved to Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad as visiting professor, said he was informed that a group of Members of the Meetei Leepun had come to his home at Malom Tuliyaima on 28 February 2023. “I have also been informed of strong and harsh words in connection with the content of the Thesis submitted by Brig SK Sharma to the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi,” he added.
Reiterating what he had already put in the public domain about the controversy, Prof Amar said, “I am only a Co-Guide while the Main Supervisor is at the University Headquarters. A Co-Guide would only be consulted on selected areas as desired by the Research Scholar. There is no imperative that the Co-Guide should be consulted on every aspect of the issues being written. If the Research Scholar feels, he/she can go ahead without ever consulting anything with the Co-Guide. The examination and approval of the Co-Guide is not mandatory for Submission.”
He maintained that the present issue was first raised by the united group of students’ organizations in Manipur and that is exactly when he came to know of a content being objected. “In fact, I had shown to them, in my computer, the complete papers submitted to me by the Research Scholar when they visited my home. The particular terms of objection were just not there in the papers submitted to me for examination when we jointly went through the pages,” he said
Prof Amar further maintained that he is an Economist concerning with contemporary development concerns. “It must be because of this that the Research Scholar did not show me any argument that involved the terms being objected to by the Meetei Lipun. The Research Scholar submitted the Thesis to his Main University and I did not write the Thesis. The question of my approving or not approving the controversial terms does by no means arise,” he added.
Prof Amar was embroiled in a controversy over the contentious assertions in the PHD thesis entitled, “Socio-economic roots of insurgency in North East India” that Merger of Manipur to the Dominion of India was only 700 Square miles and the Maharaja of Manipur had no Suzerainty over Tribal Chiefs of hill areas in Manipur.
Prof Amar Yumnam and Dr Sadananda Sahoo of IGNOU were the supervisors of the thesis, which, CSOs in Manipur alleged, “distorts the history of Manipur thereby misleading and poisoning the minds of people so as to create schism in the symbiotic harmonious relationships amongst various communities living together in the state”.
ALSO READ: https://thefrontiermanipur.com/undo-mistake-of-distorting-manipurs-historical-facts-yppm/