Was pushed into corner, had to fight entire nation: Former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan

Former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan on Friday recalled his ordeal of fighting to clear his name in an espionage case as he advised NSUT students to tackle their problems with determination.

Narayanan was the chief guest at the first convocation of Netaji Subhas University of Technology (NSUT).

”If you have the determination, I am sure you are bound to succeed and there is no reason for you to worry. I was pushed into a corner with some false charges … I had to fight the entire nation — the Centre, state government, media, the people and society. I single-handedly fought it and won the case,” he said in his address.

After a 24-year legal battle, Narayanan cleared his name in the espionage case in 2018. The 1994 case pertained to allegations of transfer of certain confidential documents on India’s space programme to foreign countries by two scientists and four others, including two Maldivian women.

Recalling the legal battle, Narayanan said, ”Of course, it took a long time and most interestingly, if you look at that case, my problem was over in four years. I got what I wanted. But the remaining 20 years, I was fighting to identify those who created this problem and then put them in the proper place. Because it was otherwise not possible to sleep. That’s why I said, ‘Go and tackle your problems with determination’,” he added.

Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena, the NSUT chancellor, encouraged the graduates to utilise their education to address real-world challenges. He also underlined the importance of ethical leadership and social responsibility in their future endeavours. He shared his vision for NSUT as an institution that excels in academics, research and industry collaboration and expressed confidence that the graduates will carry forward the university’s legacy of excellence and make significant contributions to society.

The Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (NSIT) became the Netaji Subhas University of Technology in September 2018.

Approximately 1,900 students were awarded degrees at the event. Among them, six outstanding students received the prestigious Chancellor’s Gold Medal and 47 the Vice-Chancellor’s Gold Medal in various undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Founding Vice-Chancellor Jaiprakash Saini said the intake of students has tripled from approximately 1,000 in NSIT. ”Some new courses such as MBA, MSc and MA have been started in the last few years. Some new branches of BTech have also come up. All branches of science and engineering are now offering PhDs,” he added.