SNDT University cancels lecture by feminist historian Uma Chakravarti

NB: India’s current ruling establishment does not even have the courage to say, “we will not let you speak becuase we do not like your ideas.” They resort instead to phrasemongering about ‘technical reasons’. Indian democracy is being strangled before our eyes. DS

The Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women’s University in Mumbai has cancelled its 16th Neera Desai Memorial Lecture that was scheduled to be delivered by feminist historian and activist Uma Chakravarti on March 14, The Indian Express reported on Saturday.

While the university’s Vice Chancellor Ujwala Chakradeo told The Indian Express that she was not aware of the event, Putul Sathe, a professor at the institute, told the Hindustan Times that the lecture had been cancelled because of “technical reasons”. Scroll has requested comments from Chakradeo. This story will be updated if comments are received. The lecture was organised by SNDT University’s Research Centre for Women in collaboration with the feminist collective Maharashtra Stree Mukti Parishad, The Indian Express reported. The event was announced on Wednesday.

Chakravarti, recognised for her work on gender, caste and social history, was scheduled to deliver a lecture titled “A Feminist Looks Back: Four Decades of a Long March”, the newspaper reported. A film directed by Chakravarti, Voh Subah Hami Se Aayegi, was also scheduled to be screened at the event. The university had drawn criticism on social media for inviting Chakravarti. Commenting on the development, Chakravarti told The Indian Express that she received a call on Friday informing her that the event had been cancelled.

“I am amused that a women’s university which has historically been a place for women to get educated and speak up, should feel anxious about hosting an event organised by its own women’s studies centre,” the newspaper quoted Chakravarti as saying.

Kunda PN, a member of the Maharashtra Stree Mukti Parishad, told The Indian Express that the organisers had given no official reason for cancelling the event. But Kunda noted that Chakravarti has “been openly criticising the Brahmanical Patriarchy, caste system and right wing’s oppressive stand on women’s emancipation”. Kunda was also quoted as describing the cancellation as dangerous for academic discourse on university campuses.

The cancellation of the lecture came more than a month after a book discussion at Mumbai’s prestigious Kala Ghoda Arts Festival featuring activist Anand Teltumbde was cancelled on February 4 on the orders of the Mumbai Police. Participants were also asked to delete social media posts about the event.

Also scheduled to speak at the discussion, titled “Incarcerated: Tales from Behind Bars”, was Neeta Kolhatkar, author of The Feared: Conversations with Eleven Political Prisoners. It was to be moderated by Scroll editor Naresh Fernandes.

Teltumbde had been arrested on allegations that he was among the 16 who conspired to trigger caste riots in the village of Bhima Koregaon near Pune in 2018. He is currently out on bail. He is the author of several books, including The Cell and the Soul: A Prison Memoir.

Days earlier, a poetry and story reading session featuring actor Naseeruddin Shah, co-organised by the Mumbai University’s Urdu Department and scheduled to be held on February 1, was cancelled with the actor alleging that he was “disinvited at the last moment”.

The head of the department had initially claimed that Shah had opted out of the event himself and later said that the co-organisers, the Bazm-e-Ahbab Foundation, may have cancelled it, the Mumbai Mirror reported.

Also read: Shutting down Anand Teltumbde talk, the authorities are imprisoning our imaginations

https://scroll.in/latest/1091220/mumbai-sndt-womens-university-cancels-lecture-by-feminist-historian-uma-chakravarti

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