Historian and biographer Ramachandra Guha tweeted on Thursday that he would not join Ahmedabad University in Gujarat "due to circumstances beyond my control".
Mr Guha made the announcement days after the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing linked to the RSS or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, raised fierce objections to his appointment and demanded that the university withdraw its offer.
"Due to circumstances beyond my control, I shall not be joining Ahmedabad University. I wish AU well; it has fine faculty and an outstanding Vice Chancellor. And may the spirit of Gandhi one day come alive once more in his native Gujarat," he said.
The historian did not give any more details but in a response to a comment on Twitter, he posted that ..."a biographer of Gandhi cannot teach a course on Gandhi in Gandhi's own city".
On October 16, the university had announced that Mr Guha will join it as 'Shrenik Lalbhai Chair' Professor of Humanities and director of the Gandhi Winter School. He was reportedly supposed to join the university in February, but reports said the university wanted to defer the date.
ABVP had targeted the university, accusing it of inviting someone whose writings were "anti-national".
Ahmedabad University is a private, non-profit University.
Mr Guha has authored several acclaimed books; his latest is "Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World, 1914-1948".
Central University In Garhwal Hiring Vice Chancellor, Salary Rs 2.10 Lakh Delhi University Opens Applications For Summer Internship 2024, Check Stipend, Other Details Meet Naima Khatoon, Aligarh University's First Woman Vice-Chancellor In 100 Years Windows Computers Lead To 'Blue Screen Of Death' Due To CrowdStrike Error In 1st Statement After Outage, CrowdStrike CEO Says... Massive Worldwide Microsoft Outage: Flights, Markets, Stock Exchange Down 10 Additional Delhi, Bombay High Court Judges Made Permanent Law Will Take Its Course: Puja Khedkar Breaks Silence On Allegations "Atmanirbharta" Cannot Be At Cost Of Nation's Defence: Air Force Vice Chief Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.