PaRCha - JNU - SFI - 2010 ID-69279
.
Public Meeting: Resisting communal attacks on Academic Autonomy and Freedom of .
Expression-l(nowledge .
.
.
Dilip Menon, History Dept, DU JDllSllSSS .
Anand Kumar, CSSS, JNU .
I I I I.
Kamal Mitra Chenoy, President, JNUTA. Kaveri mess .
"The world ofknowledge takes a crazy tu rn .
When teachers themselves are taught to learn." .
Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), German dramatist, poet. The Life of Galileo Friends. 2/03/08 The recent attacks in University of Delhi's History department by the semi fascist goons of the ABVP is yet another addition to the long list of RSS led onslaughts on the freedom of expression and thought. More than two years after its introduction into .
the course on Ancient Indian culture. ABVP suddenly 'discovered' that the essay "Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five .
examples and three thoughts on Translation" by AK Ramanujan contains 'offensive' references to Hindu gods .To protest against this. a group of ABVP activists barged into the office of S Z H Jafri. the head of the department of history. caught him by collar, showered abuses on him and destroyed the furniture and files. After vandalising, they got into class rooms and disrupted the internal exams which were going on. The whole 'protest' was carried out in the name of an essay which contains nothing more than a detailed description of the different versions of Ramayanas which managed to survive the onslaught of the homogenisation drive by the Sangh Giroh. Interestingly this time as well the justification for these criminal acts has been derived in the name of defending Ram's prestige and sanctity. Only few months ago our campus was a witness to the hooliganism and violence of this self proclaimed 'vonorseno' when they created mayhem and chaos in the Presidential debate during last year's JNUSU elections. In their manhandling of a senior faculty member like the notorious murderous attack on Dr Sabharwal in Ullain. one can also see the actual Guru-Shishyo Porompora these semi-fascists stand for. However what is more dangerous than this violence and lumpenism is the politics which runs behind it. Fascism and Fascist outfits like the Sangh Parivar are inherently opposed to the very idea of freedom of thought in any society. Institutions and places which seek to provide such places and opportunities for a free and fair debate and discussion on issues which might undermine the existing hegemony or stereotypes of the religious right can not to be tolerated at all by Fascist forces like the RSS and its outfits. Thiswas clearly evident when the ABVP came out with posters saying. "OU to bas jhankl hal. JNU bakl hal" . As members of the JNU community. which has a glorious legacy of standing up against all kind of attacks on the freedom of ideas and expression we must unite against the current a ttacks of the ABVP and the Sangh Giroh. We appeal to the student community to stand united against the terror tactics of the ABVP and defeat their nefarious designs to weaken our academic and intellectual freedom .. Sdf -Zico and Taneesha, Councillors JNUSU SSS .
.
PaRCha - JNU - SFI - 2010 ID-69279
.
Public Meeting: Resisting communal attacks on Academic Autonomy and Freedom of .
Expression-l(nowledge .
.
.
Dilip Menon, History Dept, DU JDllSllSSS .
Anand Kumar, CSSS, JNU .
I I I I.
Kamal Mitra Chenoy, President, JNUTA. Kaveri mess .
"The world ofknowledge takes a crazy tu rn .
When teachers themselves are taught to learn." .
Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), German dramatist, poet. The Life of Galileo Friends. 2/03/08 The recent attacks in University of Delhi's History department by the semi fascist goons of the ABVP is yet another addition to the long list of RSS led onslaughts on the freedom of expression and thought. More than two years after its introduction into .
the course on Ancient Indian culture. ABVP suddenly 'discovered' that the essay "Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five .
examples and three thoughts on Translation" by AK Ramanujan contains 'offensive' references to Hindu gods .To protest against this. a group of ABVP activists barged into the office of S Z H Jafri. the head of the department of history. caught him by collar, showered abuses on him and destroyed the furniture and files. After vandalising, they got into class rooms and disrupted the internal exams which were going on. The whole 'protest' was carried out in the name of an essay which contains nothing more than a detailed description of the different versions of Ramayanas which managed to survive the onslaught of the homogenisation drive by the Sangh Giroh. Interestingly this time as well the justification for these criminal acts has been derived in the name of defending Ram's prestige and sanctity. Only few months ago our campus was a witness to the hooliganism and violence of this self proclaimed 'vonorseno' when they created mayhem and chaos in the Presidential debate during last year's JNUSU elections. In their manhandling of a senior faculty member like the notorious murderous attack on Dr Sabharwal in Ullain. one can also see the actual Guru-Shishyo Porompora these semi-fascists stand for. However what is more dangerous than this violence and lumpenism is the politics which runs behind it. Fascism and Fascist outfits like the Sangh Parivar are inherently opposed to the very idea of freedom of thought in any society. Institutions and places which seek to provide such places and opportunities for a free and fair debate and discussion on issues which might undermine the existing hegemony or stereotypes of the religious right can not to be tolerated at all by Fascist forces like the RSS and its outfits. Thiswas clearly evident when the ABVP came out with posters saying. "OU to bas jhankl hal. JNU bakl hal" . As members of the JNU community. which has a glorious legacy of standing up against all kind of attacks on the freedom of ideas and expression we must unite against the current a ttacks of the ABVP and the Sangh Giroh. We appeal to the student community to stand united against the terror tactics of the ABVP and defeat their nefarious designs to weaken our academic and intellectual freedom .. Sdf -Zico and Taneesha, Councillors JNUSU SSS .
.