Amitabh Mattoo

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Amitabh Mattoo
public intellectual, author,
Websitehttps://www.amitabhmattoo.com

Amitabh Mattoo (born 26 June 1962,

Atal Behari Vajpayee and Dr Manmohan Singh.[citation needed] Following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India, he has offered a political roadmap for securing the future of Jammu and Kashmir.[5] He has been a persistent advocate of multiculturalism and of reconciliation between Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiri Muslims.[6]

Family, early life and education

A son of the academic and writer Neerja Mattoo and the

Tihar jail as part of student protests at JNU as a 'life-shaping experience'.[citation needed
]

Mattoo comes from a well-known and progressive

Kashmiri Pandit family of Srinagar, which never left the valley during the years of conflict. Before the land reforms in Jammu and Kashmir, his family were among the most influential feudal landlords, aristocrats and administrators in the region.[8] Examining the recent social history of his own ethnic group, Mattoo remarks:

Indeed, the intriguing history of the Kashmiri Pandit community is an anomaly in contemporary times that has privileged stories of ideological clashes, confronting cultures and competing nationalisms. Where else would you find an educated (with 100% literacy), mostly professional, materially successful, religiously liberal, politically flexible, totally non-violent, microscopic minority inhabiting one of the most conflicted and contested parts of the country? They lived, in retrospect, fairy-tale lives; and that charmed life turned into a nightmare in the 1990s.[6]

Career

Mattoo has been a visiting professor at

Jawaharlal Nehru University as well as Founder Director and CEO of the Australia India Institute, University of Melbourne and a member of the National Knowledge Commission, a high-level advisory group to the Prime Minister of India. He has also been a member of the advisory board of India's National Security Council, a member of the Indian Prime Minister's Task Force on Global Strategic Developments, on the executive committee and governing council of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, and a member of the Indian Prime Minister's High-Level Group on Nuclear Disarmament.[citation needed] He also co-chaired the Knowledge Initiative with the Education Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. The Knowledge Initiative was established by the state government to recommend interventions in schools, colleges and institutions of higher learning to make the education system socially relevant and globally competitive.[citation needed
]

Mattoo has published books on India's nuclear policy

The Telegraph and The Hindu, and has been a liberally inclined political commentator on national television.[14]

Mattoo became the youngest Vice-Chancellor of the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts-trained Bengali painter Jogen Chowdhury, have donated their work to the gallery. As president of the Jammu and Kashmir chapter of SPIC MACAY, Mattoo was responsible for the university becoming a nationally acclaimed centre of culture.[citation needed
]

Mattoo's attempts at conflict resolution and peace-building (combining theory with practice) have been publicly acclaimed.[

Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.[18]

For over a decade, he chaired the Chaophraya Track 2 Dialogue between India and Pakistan, and is regarded as one of the most creative thinkers on conflict resolution and pathways to build sustainable peace in South Asia.[citation needed] Mattoo endorses forgiveness and reconciliation among conflict-embittered South Asian peoples.[citation needed]

On 3 February 2011, in a meeting with India's Education Minister Kapil Sibal, Mattoo declined to be the Founding Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Jammu – for which he had been selected by a search committee of eminent academics and approved by the President of India – citing personal reasons.[19] Earlier, he was in the shortlist of three for the Vice-Chancellorship of Jawaharlal Nehru University.[20] On 1 March 2011, the University of Melbourne appointed Mattoo as the inaugural director of the Australia India Institute. The chairman of the institute's Board, University of Melbourne Chancellor the Hon. Alex Chernov AO QC (erstwhile Governor of Victoria) announced: "We are delighted to have as Director a person of world-renowned academic and administrative calibre such as Professor Mattoo. He has a wealth of experience in areas concerned with university affairs, government and other institutions."[21] Mattoo also serves as Professor of International Relations in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne.

Mattoo advocates greater economic and political cooperation between Australia and India. In January 2020, he wrote: "After more than six decades characterised by misperception, lack of trust, neglect, missed opportunities and even hostility, a new chapter in India’s relations with Australia has well and truly begun. Consider this: in 1955, Prime Minister Robert Menzies decided that Australia should not take part in the Bandung Afro-Asian conference. By distancing Australia from the ‘new world’, Menzies (who would later confess that Occidentals did not understand India) alienated Indians, offended Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and left Australia unsure for decades about its Asian identity. India and Australia should bring this chequered past to a closure, and herald a new united front for the Indo-Pacific."[22]

Awards

Recognizing his contribution to education and public life, the President of India honoured Mattoo on the occasion of the Republic Day (2008) with the Padma Shri,[23] one of India's highest civilian awards. This was the first time a Vice-chancellor in Jammu and Kashmir had been so honoured.[24]

Mattoo was awarded the Qimpro Platinum Standard Award (2008) and was recognised as a 'national statesman' for his work in the field of education along with Anand Mahindra, who was awarded for his leadership in business.[25]

In 2016, Mattoo was awarded a Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) degree by the Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Tamil Nadu; and in 2018, the Capital Foundation Award for being an 'outstanding educationist'.[citation needed]

Mattoo has also received several awards for his contribution to

India-Australia relations, including the Asoka Award.[citation needed
]

References

  1. ^ "Indian professor Amitabh Mattoo honoured in Australia". timesofindia-economictimes. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  2. ^ 2008 padma shri amitabh mattoo
  3. ^ Now, JandK (21 August 2015). "Prof. Amitabh Mattoo appointed Advisor to Chief Minister with Cabinet Minister rank".
  4. ^ "Our future: a Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing". The Lancet. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  5. ^ Mattoo, Amitabh (6 August 2019). "Piecing together Kashmir's audacious road map". The Hindu. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  6. ^ a b Mattoo, Amitabh (22 January 2020). "Thirty years on, still no spring for the Pandits". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  7. ^ "Amitabh Mattoo - Kashmiri Person of the Year 2008". Shehjar Magazine. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  8. ^ "The Man Who Matters". Greater Kashmir. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  9. ISBN 9788124100820
    .
  10. ISBN 9788187966661
    .
  11. S2CID 153523562
    .
  12. ISSN 0039-6338
    .
  13. JSTOR 2645580
    .
  14. ^ "The Telegraph – Calcutta (Kolkata) | Opinion | Securing India". www.telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 31 January 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  15. ISSN 0971-751X
    . Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  16. ^ "JK Governor appoints four member panel to end Jammu stalemate". Southasiatimes.in. 7 August 2008. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  17. ^ GreaterKashmir.com (Greater Service) (28 June 2011). "Amitabh Mattoo welcome back to Kashmir says Omar". Greaterkashmir.com. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  18. ^ "Prof Amitabh Mattoo appointed Advisor to J-K CM". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 21 August 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  19. ^ Aarti Dhar (4 February 2011). "Today's Paper / NATIONAL : Amitabh Mattoo declines to take over as Vice-Chancellor". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  20. ^ "New Delhi News : Amitabh Mattoo on short list for JNU V–C". The Hindu. 18 December 2010. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  21. ^ "Prof Amitabh Mattoo as Director The Australia India Institute". Theindian.net.au. 1 September 2009. Archived from the original on 7 May 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  22. ^ "Amidst a tragedy, an opportunity". The Hindu. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  23. ^ "Padma Shri List J&K" (PDF).
  24. ^ "Padma Shri Awardees – Padma Awards – My India, My Pride – Know India: National Portal of India". India.gov.in. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  25. ^ "After Ratan Tata, Qimpro Foundation awarded Prof. Amitabh Mattoo Qimpro Platinum Standard 2008 |". Theindiapost.com. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amitabh_Mattoo&oldid=1211056634"