[Reader-list] sign the romila thapar petition...urgent

zehra rizvi fatimazehrarizvi at hotmail.com
Thu May 15 07:00:31 IST 2003


please see :)
-z.
---

>From: Avishek Ganguly <avishek_ganguly at yahoo.co.in>
>To: zehra rizvi <fatimazehrarizvi at hotmail.com>
>Subject: Re: sign the romila thapar petition...urgent
>Date: Wed, 14 May 2003 15:59:43 +0100 (BST)
>
>hi zehra,
>
>the sarai list is rejecting postings due to unfathomable (to me) techinal 
>resons...so i thought i will fwd this to you, that is, if you haven't got 
>it already!
>
>(may be you can write a brief intro before circulating it further, or, in 
>the worst case, use mine!)
>thanks
>avishek
>______________________________________________________________
>dear everyone,
>
>probably many of you already know about this another, alarming, yet as 
>always mindless, attempt by the hindu rightwing in india to throttle 
>progressive voices, politics and practices in the country. vilification of 
>prominent academics with accusations of being 'marxist', 'unpatritotic'. 
>'anti-hindu' etc is only one of the many dangerous methods this madness can 
>take.
>
>i'm forwarding a msg from neeladri bhattacharya, professor of history at 
>jnu, new delhi, regarding the latest hindu right campaign in the usa 
>against the appointment of prof romila thapar, one of the greatest 
>historians of post-independence india, to a recently created prestigious 
>chair at the library of congress in washington dc.
>a model protest petition follows the letter.
>you can mail in your name, affiliation and e-mail id to the following 
>address in order to be attched to the petition.
>
>thanks,
>avishek
>
>[model letter is below message.  please send the email address, name and 
>institutional affiliation of all those who agree to sign to
>isha at ndf.vsnl.net.in.]
>
>_____________________________________________________________
>
>As you may know there is a campaign organized by the Hindu right-wing
>in USA against the nomination of Professor Romila Thapar to the Kluge
>Chair at the Library of Congress.
>I am sending you a letter protesting against this campaign. Could you
>please mobilize as many signatures as you can and  send me the email
>address, name and institutional affiliation of all those who agree to
>sign. The letter should come back to me by Thursday 15 May.We will be
>sending the protest letter to the Library of Congress and release it to
>the Indian press..
>I am sending you two attachments: one gives the details of the campaign
>that is being organized in America, the second is the letter of protest
>that is to be signed.
>For more details on the Hindu right wing campaign against romila's
>appointment to the Kluge Chair see the web site:
>http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/Alerts/IDRT300403.html
>
>Neeladri
>_____________________________________________________________
>
>We are shocked at the letter of protest that is circulating in on the
>Internet against the appointment of Professor Romila Thapar as First Holder 
>of the Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of the South at the Library of 
>Congress, USA.  Professor Thapar has been undoubtedly one of the most 
>eminent Indian historians, whose prolific scholarly contribution has opened 
>up new ways of looking at India's past.
>
>The petition shows an amazing lack of familiarity with Professor Thapar's
>writings. Since the 1960s Professor Thapar has written powerfully against
>the colonial stereotypes that India had no past, no sense of time, and no
>historical consciousness. The petitioners attribute to her precisely those
>ideas that she has spent a lifetime battling against.
>
>But clearly the problem is that Professor Thapar's conception of Indian
>past is different from that of the petitioners. Professor Thapar has looked
>at a variety of cultural traditions in the making of ancient India. To the
>petitioners Indian past is monolithic, unified and unmistakably only Hindu.
>Those who disagree with this notion are accused of committing cultural
>genocide.
>
>This is a not just a shocking intolerance of perceptual differences. It is
>a politics that seeks to silence critique, and battles for a notion of the
>past that is homogeneously Hindu. It is part of a wider attack that we are
>witnessing in India today against intellectual and artistic freedom, and
>against cultural plurality. In a political milieu where dissent is being
>regularly repressed through intimidation, this petition against Professor
>Thapar and the hate mails that accompany it, become particular cause of
>concern.
>
>We strongly protest against this attack on Professor Thapar.
>
>
>
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>
>"In civilizations without boats, dreams dry up, espionage takes the place 
>of adventure, and the police take the place of pirates." - Foucault
>
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