Leipzig University internship controversy

In March 2015, Professor Annette Beck-Sickinger, the head of the biochemistry department at Leipzig University, caused furor in India when social media revealed an academic embargo on male Indian students by female professors in Germany and European female associations.

The internship incident has disrupted Germany–India relations which had seen duress in the past after the 2007 Mügeln mob attack on Indians. The events comes just weeks before the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set for an official visit to Germany in April 2015 at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

First disclosure – 2015

Reports alleging that a university professor in Germany was implementing an internship embargo on male Indian students surfaced on social media in early March 2015. Screen-shots of e-mails, allegedly sent by Annette Beck-Sickinger of the Institute of Biochemistry at Leipzig University, appeared to show that she mentioned that her actions were a retaliatory collective punishment against India's 'culture of rape' and alluded to the existence of a growing Europe-wide embargo on Indian male students.

On 9 March 2015, the German ambassador to India, Michael Steiner, rebuked Beck-Sickinger's opinions as oversimplified and discriminative. Steiner's apology contrasted that of the president of Leipzig University, Professor Beate Schücking, who offered support for Beck-Sickinger's qualified apology: “Her comments on the issue of violence against women in India were not her first answer but were made in reply to a provocative e-mail which followed the initial e-mail. To say it clearly: I do not tolerate these comments. However, I accept Professor Beck-Sickinger's excuse. And I can say: the published e-mail has obviously been faked.”.

The refusal to recognize the seriousness of Beck-Sickinger's allegations of a Europe-wide student embargo on male students from India and the absence of a full-apology for the discriminatory action led to suggestions that institutionalized discrimination is not being taken seriously in Germany. Die Welt cited anti-racism activities of the university and postulated that the embattled Professor as a victim of collateral damage by social-media. Die Welt concluded it's article saying : “Violence against women is a huge problem in the subcontinent. Likewise, the silence of the majority of the population.”.

Authenticity of the e-mail exchange

While Leipzig university has refused to release the full text of the emails citing privacy issues, it has challenged the published excerpts terming them as "faked" since they were allegedly a 'mashup' of texts taken out of context. In an interview published by Swiss German-language daily newspaper Blick Beck-Sickinger admitted that she had written the phrases in the first email and had "made a mistake".

Alleged boycott of Indian male students

The incident gained increased media attention after the appearance of e-mails sent by Beck-Sickinger referencing an organized 'vigilante-style' embargo on Indian male students by female professors in Germany and other organizations in Europe.

On the subject of the organized embargo on male Indian students, Beck-Sickinger wrote : “Many female professors in Germany decided to no longer accept male Indian students for these reasons, and currently other European female association are joining” and explained the retaliatory nature of the boycott “Of course we cannot change or influence the Indian society, but only take our consequences here in Europe,”.

Beck-Sickinger implied that a male Indian student would put the female students of her research group at risk : “Unfortunately, I don't accept any Indian male students for internships. We hear a lot about the rape problem in India which I cannot support. I have many female students in my group, so I think this attitude is something I cannot support,”.

The incident led other students to come forward and reveal that they too had been affected by Beck-Sickinger's 'vigilante' actions, with their internship applications being similarly rejected.

Second disclosure – 2014

On 10 March 2015, the German national broadcaster Deutsche Welle revealed that Beck-Sickinger had previously rejected another PhD candidate in early 2014.

The BBC World Service, after interviewing the PhD candidate who was rejected in 2014, published an article on 11 March 2015 disclosing excerpts from the second set of emails :

thanks a lot for your application. Unfortunately I do no longer accept any male Indian guests, trainees, doctorial students or PostDocs due to the severe rape problem in India. I cannot support a society which is not able to respect females in any aspects. I think cultured people cannot close their eyes.

Questioned about the second set of e-mails by the BBC, Beck-Sickinger refused to respond. However, Leipzig University claimed that records of that particular second email exchange, also sent using the university's email servers, were unavailable.

Reactions

See also: Germany–India relations

Political

Junior minister of the Indian Government, Minister of State for External Affairs (Independent Charge) V. K. Singh, said that the incident was the result of 'misunderstanding' of India and hoped that the matter could be resolved at the earliest. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Tariq Anwar said: “If such comment has been made, then it is condemnable. The Government of Germany should take cognizance of this and whosoever has said this, investigation should be done against that person. Such incidents only spoil the relations between two nations,”

The political response to the incident in Germany has been muted despite the global media coverage. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, an alumnus of Leipzig University, has not commented on the incident. Saxony Regional Minister of Science, Eva-Maria Stange, said: “I assume that Professor Beck-Sickinger no intention to hurt the feelings of the Indian students.”

Diplomatic

In India, the German Ambassador moved swiftly to protect India-Germany relations by rejecting the actions of Beck-Sickinger. Ambassador Michael Steiner, termed Beck-Sickinger's actions as "unfair" and qualified her "simplistic" mind-set as “particularly unsuitable for a professor and teacher”.

Excerpts from the open letter from Ambassador Steiner to Professor Beck-Sickinger :

“Your oversimplifying and discriminating generalisation is an offence to women and men ardently committed to furthering women's empowerment in India; and is an offence to millions of law-abiding, tolerant, open-minded and hard-working Indians. Let's be clear: India is not a country of rapists,”

“The 2012 Nirbhaya rape case has refocused attention on the issue of violence against women. Rape is indeed a serious issue in India as in most countries, including Germany. In India, the Nirbhaya case has triggered lively, honest, sustained and very healthy public debate - a public debate of a quality that wouldn't be possible in many other countries,”.

“I would encourage you to learn more about the diverse, dynamic and fascinating country and the many welcoming and open-minded people of India so that you could correct a simplistic image, which – in my opinion – is particularly unsuitable for a professor and teacher.”.

Academic

The incident gave rise to commentaries by European academics who scrutinized the underlying issues raised by the incident : persistence of a colonial mind-set in Europe, an anti-Indian bias in European media, the philosophical justification for an indiscriminate academic embargo, an overview of sex related crimes in Europe, and the human rights situation in Germany with regard to discrimination and treatment of minority groups in Germany.

• A professor in Germany is a civil servant of the German state. Is it suitable for a civil servant of the German state to be openly racist? - Benjamin Zachariah, Historian, University of Heidelberg, Germany

• India and the West could together look for solutions to the problems that we share. Instead, Western commentators reproduce old colonial stories about India as an immoral culture. This gives them a twisted relationship to the Indian people. On the one hand, they keep turning towards the same class of Indian journalists, activists, and intellectuals for ‘local knowledge’. But these native informants merely talk the talk of the West to the West. On the other hand, more and more Indians are disgusted by the West’s condescending attitude towards their country. And this is then dismissed as hurt pride. If we want to bring our two peoples and cultures closer together in this new age, reason and empathy are our only hope. The madness of the current discourse about India must end. - Jakob De Roover, University of Ghent, Belgium

Ranjan Ghosh, a lecturer at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences at Uppsala, and who formerly taught in Germany opined that the incident was most likely an isolated incident. Ranjan Ghosh acknowledged that despite regulations against any racial prejudice being stringent in Germany, after the Nirbhaya case, Indians are increasingly confronted with questions about India’s rape situation.

The incident is seen as a fallout from biased views of India in Western media and comes on the heels of the controversy surrounding the release of the BBC documentary film about the 2012 Delhi gang rape called India's Daughter.

Social Media

Social media called upon university authorities in Germany to offer an unconditional apology. Widespread news coverage and television debates prompted suggestions that legal action be taken against the Leipzig University since the discriminatory e-mails were sent by Beck-Sickinger in her capacity as a senior university official.

Public response in India, whilst unanimous in condemning Beck-Sickinger's comments and allegations of an academic boycott, were also severely critical of efforts undertaken by the government to prevent horrendous crimes, including rapes, in India.

Anti-discrimination legislation

The employment, gender and racial discrimination are all illegal under German anti-discrimination legislation (General Equal Treatment Act of 2006, Germany).

There exist several European directives against discrimination.

Country Rating Poll for India and Germany

According to the 2014 BBC World Service Country Rating Poll, 32% of Indians view Germany's influence positively, 42% neutral and 26% expressing a negative view, while only 16% of Germans view India's influence positively, 16% neutral and 68% expressing a negative view. The poll highlighted the prevalence of anti-Asian bias in Germany, and shows anti-Indian sentiment highest in Germany, surpassing even Pakistan where only 58% held anti-India views.

See also

• Leipzig University
• Germany–India relations
• General Equal Treatment Act of 2006, Germany (German anti-discrimination legislation)
• Rape in Germany
• Rape in India

External links

• German Embassy in New Delhi, India
• University of Leipzig, Germany