new delhi in a strong counter to the narrative building around reasons for the exit of professor pb mehta ashoka university chancellor rudrangshu mukherjee has said the institution remains committed to academic freedom and intellectual independence while its board of trustee chairman ashish dhawan promised an open line of communicationdays after mehta who had resigned as vicechancellor of the university two years back chose to step down as a professor also saying that the founders made it abundantly clear that his association with the institution was a political liability mukherjee wrote to faculty and students stating the institutions founders have never interfered with academic freedomdhawan in a separate letter said the board of trustee stands for free enquiry academic freedom and intellectual independence and the university is committed to providing an environment of excellence i deeply regret any lapses that led to this situation this was not something we had anticipated or plannedtoday when the founders are being attacked for trying to compromise and curtail academic autonomy and freedom of expression i find it necessary as chancellor and given my association with ashoka from its inception to state unambiguously that the founders have never interfered with academic freedom faculty members have been left free to construct their own courses follow their own methods of teaching and their own methods of assessment mukherjee wrotethey he said have also been left free to carry out their own research and publicationsthere are only two points that the founders have insisted upon one that ashoka should not compromise on intellectual standards and two that the foundation courses should be integral to ashokas academic offering he wrote on march 20dhawan in the separate twopage letter said faculty and students are encouraged to continue questioning the world around them including the universitythe last few days have taught us it is really important for us to build an open line of communication and also listen to you we will make ourselves available for meetings with the student government and alumni council on a regular basis he wrotethe ashoka administration is entrepreneurial in spirit and we know that you are too we want to encourage you to express yourselves and know that we will be there to hear you and take your feedbackthe university belongs to students as much as it does to the faculty and the founders he said inviting students to use their voice to help management understand their needwe hope to become a more inclusive university that continues to develop on the basis of student faculty and administration partnershipsi admit that the departures of professors mehta and subramanian make us all feel a tremendous loss but there is nothing for you to fear as an institution we are committed to freedom in every aspect even as we evolve this commitment will never fade he saidover 150 international academics have come out in support of mehta in an open letter that described his resignation from ashoka university as a dangerous attack on academic freedom former