Hyderabad: Chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand on Tuesday firmly refused to accept an honorary doctorate by the University of Hyderabad after the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry raised questions on his nationality.
The three-time world champion was to receive the honorary doctorate, along with Harvard mathematician David Mumford, at the ongoing International Conference on Mathematics (ICM) on Monday.
But repeated attempts by the ICM organisers to get his name cleared from the HRD ministry failed to yield results during the stipulated time as the ministry raised questions on nationality of Anand, who lives in Spain most of the time.
Though his name was finally clearly, a hurt Anand refused to accept the degree though he will be participating in other programmes in the ICM, including playing chess against 400 mathematicians at the same time.
HRD minister Kapil Sibal had personally intervened when the matter drew his attention and had also tendered an apology, but the chess grandmaster refused to bow down.
The function was initially postponed till Tuesday evening, but Anand’s unrelenting stance has led to speculations of its eventual cancellation.
“We are ready to award the honorary doctorate to Anand. The doctorate has only been delayed and not denied as the HRD ministry has raised doubts over the chess champion's nationality,” Head of Mathematics department of the University of Hyderabad Rajat Tandon said.
He said the HRD ministry had first raised its doubts on Anand’s nationality status in July this year and the ICM had sent several clarifications, including copies of his passport collected from Anand’s wife Aruna.