Why I'm not speaking at Wharton
Sadanand Dhume | The Wall Street Journal India
March 05, 2013

Rangilo Gujarati/Wikimedia Commons

Narendra Modi speaks during an election campaign in Gujarat, India on Dec. 7, 2012.

  • Download

Article Highlights

  • Under normal circumstances, I would be looking forward to being on a panel at this year’s Wharton India Economic Forum

    Tweet This

  • The cancellation of the speech is more Wharton’s loss than Mr. Modi’s.

    Tweet This

Under normal circumstances, I would be looking forward to being on a panel at this year’s Wharton India Economic Forum on March 23. Instead, I’m withdrawing from the business school conference after the organizers’ failure to uphold its stated purpose: “to provide a neutral platform to encourage cross pollination of ideas” about India.

On Monday, citing “the impact on multiple stakeholders in our ecosystem,” the conference co-chairs abruptly canceled Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled keynote address via video conference on “the Gujarat model of development.”

This followed a petition started, predictably enough, by  professors at the University of Pennsylvania’s English department who were “outraged” by the student-run forum’s invitation to Mr. Modi.

This article is available by subscription to The Wall Street Journal.  The full text will be posted to AEI.org on Monday, March 11, 2013. 

  • Download
Also Visit
AEIdeas Blog The American Magazine
About the Author

 

Sadanand
Dhume
  • Sadanand Dhume writes about South Asian political economy, foreign policy, business, and society, with a focus on India and Pakistan. He is also a South Asia columnist for the Wall Street Journal. He has worked as a foreign correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review in India and Indonesia and was a Bernard Schwartz Fellow at the Asia Society in Washington, D.C. His political travelogue about the rise of radical Islam in Indonesia, My Friend the Fanatic: Travels with a Radical Islamist, has been published in four countries.

    Follow Sadanand Dhume on Twitter


  • Phone: 202-862-5801
    Email: sadanand.dhume@aei.org

  • Assistant Info

    Name: Julissa Milligan
    Phone: 202-862-5905
    Email: julissa.milligan@aei.org
Show More | See Full Profile

What's new on AEI

image Unleash the private sector
image The difference it will make
image How the R&D tax credit is like duct tape
image From Beijing to Jerusalem
close

Join the AEI Media List

AEI's press office frequently sends press advisories highlighting the availability of scholars to discuss particular news topics, as well as recent AEI products (such as studies, articles, and testimonies). Please enter your contact information below to be added to our media list.
JOIN MEDIA LIST
AEI on Facebook
Events Calendar
  • 20
    MON
  • 21
    TUE
  • 22
    WED
  • 23
    THU
  • 24
    FRI
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 | 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Free beer: Liberating libations from ‘Bootleggers and Baptists’

Join us for a discussion of the history and future of federal and state alcohol regulation and competition, followed by a reception with beer, wine, and spirits.

VIEW EVENT DETAILS
Wednesday, May 22, 2013 | 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
NCLB sanctions: Tests taken, lessons learned

Join education scholars and practitioners for a discussion about the latest NCLB research and its implications for future education policy.

VIEW EVENT DETAILS
Thursday, May 23, 2013 | 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Competing visions of the common good: Rethinking help for the poor

What shared commitments do we have as citizens and neighbors to care for one another? How can a proper ordering of America’s political economy enable the most people to have the best life? At this event, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), a longtime champion of human rights causes, and AEI President Arthur Brooks will join Wallis in addressing these and other questions.

VIEW EVENT DETAILS
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled today.
No events scheduled this day.