Sanskritist at Cambridge resigns in protest

LONDON: A Sanskritist at Cambridge University has resigned in protest over proposals to reduce the teaching of Hindi and Sanskrit at the prestigious educational establishment.

John Smith, one of the two Sanskritists at Cambridge, said he was taking early retirement as "he no longer wished to be associated" with the university because of the cuts to teaching the language. Dr Smith is reported to have told university dons that cutting Hindi and Sanskrit without consultation was "of very dubious legality". He has also spoken to the Indian High Commissioner Kamlesh Sharma hoping he will protest the move.

There are four universities that teach Sanskrit and Hindi in the UK - Cambridge, Oxford, Edinburgh and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. In the last 20 years, 14 students have graduated with BA honours in Hindi at Cambridge. Cambridge has already cut Hindi and Sanskrit as a full BA honours degree in the Faculty of Oriental Studies, and academies were told last year not to admit any more undergraduates for South Asian studies before the department was recognised.

Ironically the decision was taken around the same time as the university was conferring an honorary degree to PM Manmohan Singh. The cuts are being made to reduce debts. Apart from the Indian languages, Portuguese is also facing the chop, and it is feared that further languages could be cut too. Kate Pretty, a Pro Vice-Chancellor at Cambridge said that no final decision had been made on Hindi, Sanskrit or Portuguese, and that other languages were not at risk.