Skip to main content

Disruption of webinar on scientific temper: How MP admin supported attack on scholars

LS Herdenia on how RSS affiliated Vidhyarthi Parishad forced university authorities to remove the names of two eminent scholars from the list of speakers at a webinar on scientific tempter:
***
July 30, 2021 will be recorded as a day of shame in the history of Dr. Gaur Central University of Madhya Pradesh. On this day the RSS affiliated Vidhyarthi Parishad directed the University to remove the names of two eminent scholars from the list of speakers who were to participate in a Webinar organised by the University. The ABVP claimed that Dr. Gauhar Raza and Dr. Apoorvanand are "enemies of the nation" and therefore should not be allowed to speak in the Webinar. It may be mentioned here that Raza is a well-known scientist and Dr. Apoorvanand teaches in Delhi University and ranks as a great scholar. Besides both are committed to secular values as enshrined in the Constitution.
The Department of Anthropology, Dr. Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, in collaboration with Montclair State University, New Jersey, USA decided to host the above online seminar in early May, 2021. Departmental council of the Department of Anthropology passed a resolution to organise an International Webinar with collaboration of GIAN Faculty Prof. Neeraj Vedwan, Montclair State University, USA on 28 May 2021. The subject of the Webinar was "Cultural and Linguistic Hurdles in the Achievement of Scientific Temper".
The proposal was sent to the Vice Chancellor on 2 June 2021. It was approved and permission was accorded, on 7 June 2021, by her. Subsequently, the list of speakers, which included the name of Prof. Gauhar Raza and Prof. Apoorvanand was approved by the VC on 20 July 2021.
On 22 July 2021, ABVP submitted a memorandum and threatened the university to disrupt the conference unless the names of Prof. Gauhar Raza and Prof. Apoorvanand are not dropped from the list of speakers.
On 29 July 2021, the university started buckling under the pressure and the Registrar issued a letter, asking the Head of the Department to seek permission from the Ministry for holding a conference.
On 29 July 2021 itself the Police Superintendent who should have provided all the support to the university for organising the conference wrote a threatening letter to VC. Instead of controlling the goons the police threatened to slap 505 IPC on the organisers. On 30 July 2021, the registrar issued another letter to postpone the webinar till approval is granted. And he proactively warned the organisers and participants to refrain even from attending the conference.
At the time of the conference police officials and university security staff were deployed in the Department so that nobody could even listen to the proceedings. Many scholars and students registered their protest. They said "We believe that this event represents a twin attack on the scientific temper as well as on the autonomy of the academic institution. Evidently since this government has come to power there has been a relentless assault on both. The atrocious argument that someone’s feelings will get hurt if ‘hurdles in achieving scientific temper’ are discussed by academicians and scholars is only a smoke screen to intimidate free speech and academic discourse.
"We are ashamed that this has been allowed to happen in 21st century India. We were the first country to pass a Scientific Policy Resolution, including ‘spreading scientific temper’ as a constitutional duty of every citizen, which we should rightly be proud of. We also believe that this is not an isolated incident, there have been similar attacks on the academicians in Ujjain, Mandsaur, Bhopal in the recent past. However, this incident has surpassed all limits of civility and has also sullied the image of the country abroad.
"We are shocked by the letter of the Superintendent of Police, Atul Singh to the Vice-Chancellor which unequivocally threatens the organisers to invoke ‘505 IPC’, against them ‘if any speaker’ hurts the feelings of ‘any group’. Atul Singh is quoted to have said that he had received “references to the past history, anti-national mentality and caste-related statements of the speakers attending the webinar”. It is clear that at the behest of the political masters, the police wanted to scare organisers and force them not to organise the seminar.
"We not only condemn the attack on the liberty and freedom of the University, the faculty members and assault on the scientific temper, but also stand by Prof. Apoorvanand, Prof. Gauhar Raza and the faculty members who withstood the pressure."
--- 
IPA Service, forwarded by Ram Punjiani

Comments

TRENDING

Crucial to revisit roots, embrace core Hindu principles: love, compassion, harmony

A note on religious leaders'  Satya Dharam Samvad in Haridwar: *** In a groundbreaking gathering, more than 25 religious leaders including Swamis, Acharyas, Pujaris, Gurus, and Sadhvis from all over India convened to discuss the tenets of Hinduism on September 16th, 2023, in Haridwar, to discuss and discern the current trajectory of Hinduism. This brand new initiative, the Satya Dharam Samvad, was inspired to organize its first assembly in response to the December 2021 Dharma Sansad, where hate speech and calls for violence against the Muslim community contravened the essential principles of Hinduism. Religion is being used to incite riots among Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, etc. In the face of such hatred, Swami Raghavendra felt that something meaningful should be done in the present climate. 

Maoist tendency of mechanically adhering to Chinese path ignores Indian conditions

By Harsh Thakor  The C.P.I. (Maoist) formed in 2004 with merger of the C.P.I. (M.L) Peoples War and the Maoist Communist Centre has demonstrated courage in intensity compared to any great revolutionary struggle in the history of the world. It leads the largest armed movement of a Peoples Guerrilla Army in the world today and proved themselves as the true torch bearers of the Indian Communist movement.

Significant step towards empowering and particularly engaging with informal workers

ActionAid note on drive to empower informal sector workers Odisha with the support of District Labour Department: *** The Odisha Unorganised Workers Social Security Board (OUWSSB) facilitated an Unorganized Workers Awareness Camp at the Red Cross Bhawan in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The event took place in collaboration with the District Labour Department at Khordha, Centre for Child and Women Development and ActionAid Association. This informative event aimed at empowering informal sector workers by disseminating crucial information regarding their eligibility for various social security schemes provided by the Government of Odisha.

Dev Anand ably acted as westernised, urban educated, modern hero, as also anti-hero

By Harsh Thakor  On September 26th we celebrated the birth centenary of legendary actor Dev Anand. Dev Saab carved out a new epoch or made a path breaking contribution in portraying romanticism and action in Bollywood cinema, giving his style or mannerisms a new colour. Arguably no Bollywood star manifested glamour in such a dignified or serene manner or struck the core of an audience’s soul in romantic melodies. Possibly we missed this evergreen star being cast in a Hollywood film. Dev Anand is like an inextinguishable soul of Bollywood. Although not as artistic or intense as Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor or Ashok Kumar ,Dev Anand surpassed them all for liveliness or flamboyance, with his performances radiating g energy on the screen, in realms rarely transcended. In his own right, Dev Saab, was a craftsman, like his classical contemporaries, with a characteristic composure. Perhaps never was a Bollywood star so suave, bubbling or charming as Dev Anand, who often looked like an Indian versi

We need to resurrect Neruda, give birth to poets of his kind amidst neofascist rampage

By Harsh Thakor  On 23rd September we commemorate the 50th death anniversary of Pablo Neruda, whose contribution to revolutionary poetry was path breaking. Pablo Neruda’s poetry manifested the spiritual essence of revolutionary poetry and how poetry was a weapon for a revolutionary struggle. The story of his life illustrated the spiritual transformation undergone a human being to transform him into a revolutionary and how environment shapes the lie of revolutionary.

Grassroots NGO enlightens people of Kupwara with intricacies of Right to Information

J&K RTI Foundation and Founder Civil Rights Movement Kupwara note on how RTI Pend is empowering Kupwara with insights on Right to Information Act: *** RTI Pend, the grassroots initiative aimed at democratizing access to information, hosted its 2nd event in Kupwara. On the request of the Civil Rights Movement Kupwara, this event was tailored to enlighten the people of Kupwara with the intricacies of the Right to Information Act, presented in their local language and dialects. The event successfully bridged both offline and online participation, addressing queries on the spot and offering applicants practical solutions.

Abrogation of Art 370: Increasing alienation, relentless repression, simmering conflict

One year after the abrogation by the Central Government of Art. 370 in Kashmir, what is the situation in the Valley. Have the promises of peace, normalcy and development been realised? What is the current status in the Valley? Here is a detailed note by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties , “Jammu & Kashmir: One Year after Abrogation of Art. 370: Increasing Alienation, Relentless Repression, Simmering Conflict”:

Agro-biodiversity through seed identification, conservation, replication, crop selection

By Kuntal Mukherjee, Basant Yadav, Shivnath Yadav* This article is mainly based on a journey of the three of us since 2010 based on field experience, study of different articles, reflective journeys with local community based organisations, villagers and practitioners in Chhattisgarh. The slow growth of Agriculture in India with near stagnation in productivity since mid ‘80s in contrast to the remarkable growth during the green revolution period has come to the front as a great concern. In post WTO era Indian Agriculture has been witnessing structural changes, uncontrolled influx of agriculture goods and commodities from foreign countries due to open market nature. The gradual reduction in subsidies from internal production leads to increasing cost of production of agriculture produces at the farm gate. It causes gradual decrease in internal production as well as productivity and posing threats to small farm and stakeholders. 

Why Govt of India, Sangh Parivar want to stop the use of ‘India’? What's in a name?

By Ram Puniyani  Coincidentally after the opposition parties came together to form INDIA (Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance), the ruling BJP is desisting from the use of word India in official communiqués and its parent organizations RSS has issued a fatwa that only word Bharat should be used for our country. While inviting the representative’s participants of G 20, the President issued the invitation in the name of ‘Rashtrapati of Bharat’. Since then BJP is on the track of avoiding the use of the word India in all its pronouncements, saying this word smacks of colonial legacy since this word was given to the country by British colonial rulers. Mr. Hemant Biswa Sarma of BJP said that word India is part of the colonial legacy and should be removed. RSS chief and other functionaries have intensified this message. Speaking at a function at Guwahati Mr. Bhagwat, stated “We must stop using the word India and start using Bharat. At times we use India to make those who speak Eng

Sewer workers not given ESI cards that would ensure health benefits they need the most

A note by the Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM), an organization working for the issues of sanitation workers in Delhi NCR, on right to life and dignity which still seems light years away for sewer workers: *** Exploitation of Sewer workers is not just a labour issue, but it is rooted in the caste system and cannot be separated from the historical socio-religious-cultural-economic exploitation of the Dalit community! Stated Mr. Y.S. Gill, Senior Journalist and Documentary Film maker in the press conference organised by Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) in Integrated Social Initiatives (ISI), Lodhi Road, New Delhi on issues of sewer workers in Delhi. The press conference was attended by a number of community members, activists, members of the civil society, students etc.