HYDERABAD/NEW DELHI: A move to confer honorary doctorate on chess icon Vishwanathan Anand was on Tuesday at the centre of a raging storm after the Human Resource Development ministry reportedly raised questions over his Indian nationality but the HRD Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal stepped in to apologise to him.

The HRD Minister, who called Anand over telephone in Hyderabad, said there was no question of his ministry raising queries over Anand’s citizenship and that he has persuaded him to accept the doctorate.
But the chess wizard politely turned it down for the present saying he would accept it on a later date because of his travel schedule and prior commitments now.
Anand was to be conferred the honorary doctorate along with Prof David Mumford of Harward University at a function here on Monday night coinciding with the current International Congress of Mathematicians in Hyderabad.
Bureaucratic hurdles caused by the Union HRD ministry put paid to the plans of University of Hyderabad to confer the honour on the 39-year-old champion, who lives in Spain for the last few years but holds an Indian passport.
As reports on the unsavoury episode broke out in the media, Mr Sibal sought to do some damage limitation.  He called Anand in Hyderabad over telephone and expressed his apologies, apparently over questions raised in regard to his citizenship.
“But in the case of Vishwanathan Anand there is no question (of questions over his citizenship). We are sorry for what has transpired.
I told him even if some Indian were to acquire foreign nationality we are still proud of him,” the Minister told a hurriedly-called press conference in Delhi.
He blamed bureaucratic procedures in the delay on clearance of the doctorate degree for Anand, who maintained he had always played under the Indian flag and held an Indian passport. “I don’t understand this issue. I am in Hyderabad to play with mathematicians and enjoy the Congress,” said the Grand Master who went ahead to play a game of chess simultaneously with 40 mathematicians.
He defeated all his opponents in a game that lasted over three hours and participated in a question-answer session with them. Earlier, he was accorded a grand welcome at the Congress venue and Anand remained unfazed and did not betray any emotions over the treatment meted out to him.
Anand’s wife said the Minister was apologetic when he spoke to the player and wanted the matter to be put to rest now. But she made it clear that the issue of questions over Anand’s nationality did not come as a surprise to them as they were asked to give a copy of the passport, which she had sent to the HRD ministry in June last year.
Giving his version of the story, Mr Sibal dismissed suggestions that the ministry had doubted Anand’s nationality. “There is no issue. There is no question of nationality (about Anand),” he said adding that he had cleared the file on Anand’s name for conferring the doctorate on May 22 last year. But, he said, there were five other names. “When I went to the visitor it came back to me with reference to an individual. Then the University event was over. This issue arose when another file came regarding a foreigner.  If I had known I would have put my foot down,” he said.
Hailing Anand for his achievements, Mr Sibal said, “Vishwanathan Anand has done India proud like Arjun Atwal (who won a top professional golf championship in the US on Monday). We should be proud of those who climb the heights of global excellence.”
Meanwhile, the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) expressed sadness over not being able to confer the honorary doctorate on Anand because of “insensitive bureaucratic obstructions.” The ICM executive committee has conveyed its deep apology to Anand over this development, its chairman Mr M S Raghunathan and secretary, Mr Rajat Tandon said in a statement.