In the middle of a furore over the alleged threat to institutions under the Narendra Modi regime, two events that unfolded nearly 1,000km apart have signalled a further shrinking of the space for dissent.

On Wednesday, historian and columnist Ramachandra Guha disclosed that he would not be joining Ahmedabad University “due to circumstances beyond my control”.

Guha, who has authored several books on subjects including Mahatma Gandhi, and has been described as “Indian democracy’s pre-eminent chronicler”, did not cite any specific reason.

But the ABVP, the student wing of the RSS, virtually claimed responsibility with a leader being quoted as saying the organisation had made a representation to the varsity registrar saying it wanted intellectuals in educational institutions, “not anti-nationals”.

Two days later, word emerged that the government had replaced at least three of the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML) Society members who had opposed a museum on Prime Ministers of India on the Teen Murti premises.

Economist Nitin Desai, former bureaucrat B.P. Singh and academic Udayon Misra were among those who had opposed the idea — widely seen as a move to dilute the significance of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.

They had been appointed in April 2015 and could have continued till April 26, 2020. According to the memorandum of association of the museum and library, non-ex-officio members of the society are to hold office for five years unless the authority that nominated them terminates their membership earlier, “which they will have power to do”.

In an October 29 notification, the Union culture ministry partially reconstituted the NMML Society, bringing in four new faces to replace the three axed members and fill a more-than-two-year-old vacancy.

The four new members are Ram Bahadur Rai, chairman of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts; S. Jaishankar, former foreign secretary; Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of Republic news channel; and Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, a BJP Rajya Sabha member and president of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

The sole vacancy had arisen because public intellectual Pratap Bhanu Mehta had resigned in protest against the “marginalisation” of academic credentials in the selection process for director.

The culture ministry, headed by Mahesh Sharma, said the changes had been approved by the Prime Minister.

The pre-emptive strike in Gujarat was all the more striking because Ahmedabad University is a private, non-profit institution that, in its own words, “offers students a liberal education focused on research and interdisciplinary learning”.

“The truth is that the financial and administrative autonomy of private universities is no defence against the minions of a bullying State,” columnist Mukul Kesavan writes in The Telegraph today.

Guha was scheduled to join as the Shrenik Lalbhai Chair Professor of Humanities and director of the Gandhi Winter School at the School of Arts and Sciences.

Guha has declined to discuss the matter with the media but posted a telling tweet on November 1: “… A biographer of Gandhi cannot teach a course on Gandhi in Gandhi’s own city.”

The university has not said why Guha decided against joining, telling a newspaper on Friday it was waiting for a formal communication from him.

There was no word from the culture ministry, either, on why the NMML Society was partially reconstituted.

Misra, one of the three members replaced, told this newspaper he was not surprised as he too had circulated a written note opposing the effort to change the NMML’s memorandum of association and also the proposed museum. “I was expecting this given the present state of affairs in the country,” he said.

Desai said he had not been told the reason for his removal. “They appointed me, they removed me. The government decides the membership. They have not communicated any reason to me. I have only seen the notification.”

A tweet by Sahasrabuddhe, one of the new nominees, suggested the museum of Prime Ministers was a factor. “… Many thanks PM @narendramodi ji, @dr_maheshsharma ji! Expectedly, those talking about Inclusive Democracy are opposing conversion of NMML into all-PM Museum with Pt Nehru Memorial intact!’’