Source URL: http://www.sacw.net/Alerts/ProtestLetter17052003.html
Letter of Protest by Scholars and Intellectuals Against the Attack on Romila Thapar[Sent to the Library of Congress and released to the Press on 17 May 2003]
We are shocked at the letter of protest that is circulating 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 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 a particular cause of concern.
We strongly protest against this attack on Professor Thapar.Signatories:
Professor Hermann Kulke
Chair of Asian History,
Kiel University, Germany
Ranajit Guha
Stanley J. Tambiah
Harvard University
Professor T.N. Madan
Institute of Economic Growth,
Delhi 110 007
Professor Sumit Sarkar
Department of History
University of Delhi
Professor Partha Chatterjee
Centre for Studies in Social Sciences
Calcutta
Sheldon Pollock
George V. Bobinskoy Professor of Sanskrit and Indic Studies
Dept. of South Asian Languages and Civilizations
University of Chicago
1130 E. 59th St.
Chicago, IL 60637-1543
Professor Anthony Grafton
Henry Putnam University Professor
Department of History
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544
Professor Robert Tignor
Chair, Department of History
Department of History
Princeton University
Professor Kenneth McPherson
Mercator Professor
South Asia Institute
University of Heidelberg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 330
69120 Heidelberg
Germany
Dr Sudipta Kaviraj
School of Oriental and Afrcian Studies
London
Prof. Fred Dallmayr,
University of Notre Dame.
Professor Kapil Raj
Maître de conférences (Associate Professor)
Alexander Koyré Centre for the History of Science
Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
54, boulevard Raspail
75006 Paris, France
Professor Gyanendra Pandey
Department of Anthropology and History
John Hopkins University
Francis Robinson,
Professor of the History of South Asia in the University
of London,
Royal Holloway, University of London.
Professor Supriya Chaudhuri
Dept. of English,
Jadavpur University
Professor Sukanta Chaudhuri
Dept. of English,
Jadavpur University
Professor David Washbrook
St Antony's College
University of Oxford
Frederique Apffel-Marglin
Anthropology Professor
Smith College
Northampton. Mass, 01063, USA
David Neal Lorenzen
Dr Benjamin Zachariah
Lecturer in International History
Department of History
University of Sheffield
United Kingdom.
Professor Jayati Ghosh
Centre for Economic Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Professor Abhijit Sen
Centre for Economic Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Profesor Chandrashekhar
Centre for Economic Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Prof. Dr. Marlene Njammasch
Institute for Asian and African Studies
Seminar for South Asian Studies
Humboldt University
Unter den Linden 6
10099 Berlin
Dr. Ravi Ahuja, Assistant Professor of
History, South Asia Institute,
University of Heidelberg,
Sambudha Sen,
Reader , Department of English,
University of Delhi.
Profesor Gyan Prakash
Princeton University
Professor Satyajit Rath
Institute of Immunology
Aseem Prakash
Fellow
Giri Institute of Development Studies
Lucknow - 2260 24
India
Professor Madhura swaminathan,
Indian Statistical Institute,
Kolkata, India
Professor V. K. Ramachandran,
Indian Statistical Institute
Kolkata, India
Dr. Dagmar Hellmann-Rajanayagam
Schützenstr. 8
85757 Karlsfeld
Germany
Rashmi Paliwal
Ekalavya
Bhopal
Madhaya Pradesh
Subramanyam
Ekalavya
Bhopal
Madhaya Pradesh
Shohini Ghosh,
Reader, MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia,
New Delhi
Dr G.Arunima
University of Delhi
Balmurli Natrajan
Assistant Professor
Anthropology
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50011
U.S.A.
Ajay Sinha
Associate Professor
Art Department
Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, MA 01075
Tim Schwabedissen
Kiel University, Germany
Dr. Mukulika Banerjee
Department of Anthropology
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT
Professor Saurabh Dube
Centre for Asian and African Studies
El Colegio de México
Mexico
Ajantha Subramanian
Harvard University
Professor Tirthankar Roy
Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics
Pune, India
Dr Ishita Banerjee
Centre for Asian and African Studies
El Colegio de México
Prof. Dr. Jakob Rösel
Kesava Rao Siripurapu
TEESTA SETALVAD
JAVED ANAND, Bombay
Dr. Indira Ghose,
Lecturer, Department of English,
Free University of Berlin, Germany.
Dr. Mandakini Dubey
Duke University
Dr. Ashwini Chhatre
Department of Political Science,
Duke University.
Dr. Janet Sturgeon,
Brown University
Sheetal Majithia
Cornell University
Dr Abha Singh
Indira Gandhi University
New Delhi
Mayuri Amuluru
Mark Baker
Forest Community Research
US
Professor Kim Berry
Head, Department of Women's Studies,
Humboldt State University.
Dr Nandini Sundar
Centre for Governance Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
Bharati Jagannathan
Miranda House
Delhi University
G. Asha
K.Saradamoni
Janaki Nair
Praful bidwai
Journalist
New Delhi
Dr. Werner F. Menski,
Senior Lecturer in Law
School of Oriental and African Studies
University of London
London WC1H 0XG
Arjun Dev
Indira Arjun Dev
Jean Dreze
India
Harjot Oberoi
Professor of South Asian History and Religions
Department of Asian Studies
1871 West Mall, Vancouver
University of British Columbia
BC V6T 1Z1, CANADA
Professor Tapati Guha-thakurta
Centre for Studies in Social Sciences
Calcutta
Professor Gautam Bhadra
Centre for Studies in Social Sciences
Calcutta
Professor Pradip Bose
Centre for Studies in Social Sciences
Calcutta
Dr Janaki Nair
Centre for Studies in Social Sciences
Calcutta
Professor Lakshmi Subramaniam
Centre for Studies in Social Sciences
Raziuddin Aquil
Centre for Studies in Social Sciences
Calcutta
Professor Anjan Ghosh
Centre for Studies in Social Sciences
Calcutta
Professor Manas Ray
Centre for Studies in Social Sciences
Calcutta
Tejaswini Niranjana,
Centre for the Study of Culture and Society
Bangalore
Ashish Rajadhyaksha,
Centre for the Study of Culture and Society
Bangalore
S.V.Srinivas,
Centre for the Study of Culture and Society
Bnagalore
Uma Maheshwari Bhrugubanda,
Columbia University
I.Mohan Krishna,
Independent film-maker,
Hyderabad
Dr Aloka Parasher-Sen
Department of History
University of Hyderabad
Dr David Hardiman,
Dept of History,
University of Warwick.
Dr. Satish Deshpande
Institute of Economic Growth,
Delhi University North Campus,
DELHI 110 007.
Professor Bina Agarwal
Institute of Economic Growth,
Delhi 110 007
Kanchan Chopra
Institute of Economic Growth,
Delhi 110 007
Dr Satish Deshpande
Institute of Economic Growth,
Delhi 110 007
Nilabja Ghosh
Institute of Economic Growth,
Delhi 110 007
Arup Mitra
Institute of Economic Growth,
Delhi 110 007
Saon Ray
Institute of Economic Growth,
Delhi 110 007
S. Sakthivel
Institute of Economic Growth,
Delhi 110 007
Professor Patricia Uberoi
Institute of Economic Growth,
Delhi 110 007
Sudha Vasan
Institute of Economic Growth,
Delhi 110 007
Dr Mary John
Jawaharlal Nehru University,
Delhi 110 067
Joanna Jellinek
Publishing Editor,
Critical Quarterly
Ashwini Chhatre
Department of Political Science,
Duke University.
Janet Sturgeon,
Brown University
Sheetal Majithia
Cornell UniversityMayuri Amuluru,
NYC.
Professor Susan Visvanathan
Centre for Social Systmes
Jawaharlal Nehru Univeristy
Mahasweta Chaudhury
Patrick Petitjean
REHSEIS-CNRS,
Paris
Dr. Jacques Pouchepadass
Senior Fellow, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris
Prof. Gyula Wojtilla
Department of Ancient History University of Szeged
Farah Naqvi,
Independent writer
Dr Ian Mabbett
Reader in History,
School of Historical Studies,
Monash University,
Clayton, Vic. Australia 3800.
Dr Chandana Mathur
New School for Social Research, New York
Ines G. Zupanov
Research Fellow
Centre national de la recherche scientifique
CEIAS/EHESS
54, Bd. Raspail
Paris, 75006, France
Dr Francesca Orsini
University Lecturer in Hindi,
University of Cambridge
Anna Schultz
University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign
Varuni Bhatia
Department of Religion
Columbia University
Sandeep Vaidya
125 Winter Garden
Pearse Street
Dublin 2
Ireland
K. Saradamoni,
Retired Professor, Economics,
Indian Statistical Institute.
Ritty Lukose
University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Bakirathi Mani
Assistant Professor
Department of English Literature
Swarthmore College
Dr Lata Mani,
Independent Scholar.
USA
Anupam Basu
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department of English
Laila Friese
Freelance editor
Cambridge, UK
Aaron Moore
Dept. of History, Cornell University
Dr F. 'Nalini' Delvoye
EPHE IVth, Paris
Ahmer Nadeem Anwar,
Sri Venkateswara College,
Dr Daud Ali
Lecturer in the Early History of India, School of
Oriental and African Studies, London.
Avishek Ganguly
Dept of English & Comp Lit
Columbia University
Diya Das
Dept of Strategy & Human Resources
School of Management
Syracuse UniversityRuchi
Columbia University
Dulali Nag
Unicef.
Dr Priyamvada Gopal
Faculty of English
Cambridge University
Dr. Werner F. Menski, MA, PhD
Senior Lecturer in Law
School of Oriental and African Studies
University of London
London WC1H 0XG
Laura Carballido
Centro de Estudios de Asia y Africa
El Colegio de Mexico
Mexico
Damu Radheshwar AIA
Senior Associate
POLSHEK PARTNERSHIP ARCHITECTS
320 West 13th Street
New York, New York 10014
Sushma Joshi,
80th St, East Elmhurst, NY 11370
Freelance writerDavid Holmberg
Cornell University
Kath March
Cornell University
Andrew Willford
Cornell University
Ann Blackburn
Cornell University
Chris Minkowski
Cornell University
Ajantha Subramanian,
Harvard University
Laila Friese
Freelance editor
Cambridge, UK
Dr Rudrangshu Mukherjee
Editor, Editorial Pages,
The Telegraph.
Dayita Datta
Vice Principal Welham Girls School, Dehra Dun
Bhaswati Chakravorty
Senior Assistant Editor,
The Telegraph
Dr. Christiane Brosius,
Department of Anthropology
South Asia Institute
University of Heidelberg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 330
69120 Heidelberg
Germany
www.sai.uni-heidelberg.de/ETHNO
Saugata Mukherjee
Centre for Linguistics & English
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Dr. Annie Montaut
Paris
Michel Paty
Aant Elzinga
Professor
Department of History of Ideas and Theory of Science
Goteborg University
Box 200 SE-405 30 Goteborg
Sweden
Professpor Dhruv Raina
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Prajit K Basu
Jisha Menon,
Stanford University
Cyril Ghosh,
Syracuse University
Paromita Kar
Sr Sub-editor-cum-reporter
The Statesman, Kolkata
Anupama Roy
Institute of Economic Growth,
Delhi 110 007
Meenu Tiwari
Institute of Economic Growth
& Univ of North Carolina at Chapel HillDavid Osorio
London, UK
Martine Osorio
London, UK
Jill Kitson
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Dr Eivind Kahrs,
Faculty of Oriental Studies,
University of Cambridge, UK
Vinay Lal
Associate Professor
Department of History,
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1473
Professor I K Shukla
Coalition for an Egalitarian and Pluralistic India
Los Angeles, California
Anil Lal
Roosevelt University
Chicago, Illinois
Dr Anju Relan
School of Medicine, UCLA
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Dr Sudeshna Guha
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
University of Cambridge
Shukla Sawant
School of Arts & Aesthetics JNU
New Delhi-110067,
Geetanjali Shree
Writer in Residence,
South Asian Studies,
University of Edinburgh.
U.K.
Dr Nandini Gooptu
Queen Elizabesth House
Oxford
Dr Vijay Prasad
Trinity College,
Hartford, CT, USA
Julia Eckert
Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
Prashant Kidambi,
Lecturer in South Asian History,
University of Leicester, UK.
Aradhana (Anu) Sharma
Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Women's Studies
Department of Anthropology
Wesleyan University
Middletown, CT 06459-0502
R Ravishankar
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaig
Professor Spencer Leonard
University of Chicago
Professor Debali Mookerjea-Leonard
Cornell University
Imre Bangha,
Research Fellow
Indian iterature and Aesthetics, PRASADA,
DE Montfort University.
Sophie Hawkins,
Lancaster University
England
Clare Talwalker
Ass. Professor of Anthropology
University of Dayton
Dr. Vasant Saberwal,
Director of Research, Moving Images, New Delhi.
Sunil deshmukh
1300 rockrimmon rd
stamford ct 06903
Jinee Lokaneeta
Sanjay K mishra
USC,Los Angeles
Geetanjali Srikantan
ALTERNATIVE LAW FORUM
India
Nikita Sud
St Antony's College
Oxford
Arunabha Ghosh
Balliol College
Oxford OX1 3BJ, UKDr. Jeffrey Cox
Professor of History
South Asian Studies
University of Iowa, US
Dr. Corey Creekmur
Associate Professor of Film Studies
South Asian Studies
University of Iowa, US
Dr. Alice Davison
Associate Professor of Linguistics
South Asian Studies
University of Iowa
Dr. Gigi Durham
South Asian Studies
University of Iowa
Associate Professor of Journalism
Dr. Paul Greenough
Professor of History
South Asian Studies
University of Iowa
Dr. Santhi Hejeebu
Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics and History
South Asian Studies
University of Iowa
Dr. Meena Khandelwal
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
South Asian Studies
University of Iowa
Dr. Priya Kumar
Assistant Professor of English
South Asian Studies
University of Iowa
Dr. Mark Sidel
Assistant Professor of Law
South Asian Studies
University of Iowa
Farida Abdulla Khan,
Dept.of Education,
Delhi University
Modumita Roy,
Associate professor of english
Tufts univerity
Medford, ma 02446
USA
The Indian CEO CouncilAsha Shahed
Ashish Chadha
Dept. Of Cultural and Social Anthropology
Francoise Mallison
Directeur d'Etudes
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes
Section des Sciences Historiques et Philologiques
France
Dr. Sabina Sawhney
Hofstra University
Pritam Singh
Oxford Brookes University Business School
Oxford
Dr S Kapila,
Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine,
Oxford OX2 6PE.
Gautam Premnath
Assistant Professor of English
University of Massachusetts Boston
Bina Fernandez
Wolfson College
Linton Road,
OX2 6UD
Oxford, UK
Alaka Basu
Cornell University
Swagato sarkar
St.antonym's college
University of oxford
Oxford ox2 6jf,uk.
Dr. Frederick Smith,
Associate Professor of Religion and of Asian Languages and Literatures,
University of Iowa.
USA
Prof Barbara Harriss-White
Queen Elizbesth House
Oxford
Professor Adam Hardy
PRASADA
De Montfort University
Leicester LE1 9BH
UK
Aditi Thorat
Lincoln College
University of Oxford
Amit Ranjan Basu
Jawaharlal Nehru Univesrity
Dr. SangeetaDasGupta,
Visva Bharati University,
Santiniketan,
Dr. Padmanabh Samarendra,
S.A. Jaipuria College,
Calcutta University,
Siddhartha DasGupta,
Bangabashi Evening College,
Calcutta University,
Swarna Rajagopalan
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
361 Lincoln Hall, 702 S. Wright Street
Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Dr Susan Daruvala,
Faculty of Oriental Studies,
University of Cambridge
Preeti Chopra
Department of Architecture
University of California, Berkeley
Dr Sambudha Sen
Department of English
University of Delhi
Professor Rajeev Bhargava
Department of Political Science
University of Delhi
Dr PK Dutta
Department of Political Science
University of Delhi
Dr Prabhu Mohapatra
Department of History
University of Delhi
Mala Dayal
Ravi Dayal
Ravi Dayal Publishers
Naina Dayal
Dr Chitra Joshi
Reader, Department of History
Indraprastha College
University of Delhi
Dr Meena Bhargava
Reader, Department of History
Indraprastha College
University of Delhi
Mukul Manglik
Ramjas College
Univerity of Delhi
Rashmi Pant
Reader, Department of History
Indraprastha College
University of Delhi
Suvrita Khatri
Department of History
Deshbandhu College
University of Delhi
Dr Rana Behal
Department of History
Deshbandhu College
University of Delhi
Professor Aditya Mukherjee
Centre for Histoircal Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Professor Mridual Mukherjee
Centre for Histoircal Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Professor Tanika Sarkar
Centre for Histoircal Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Dr Kumkum Roy
Centre for Histoircal Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Professor Kunal Chakrabarty
Centre for Histoircal Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Dr Hiraman Tiwari
Centre for Histoircal Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Samira Sheikh
Wolfson College,
Oxford OX2 6UD.
Dr Tapas Saha
National Institute of Health
Bethesda. MD 20892
Joy Pachuau
Centre for Histoircal Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Mahalakshmi
Centre for Histoircal Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Professor Neeladri Bhattacharya
Centre for Histoircal Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Dr Yogesh Sharma
Centre for Histoircal Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Professor Zoya Hasan
Centre for Political Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Professor Mushirul Hasan
Department of History
Jamiya Milia Islamia
New Delhi
Dr Jairus Banaji
BombayRohini Hensman
Bombay
Avinash Kumar
Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi
Vishwavidyalaya,
Wardha
Dr. Philip Lutgendorf,
Associate Professor of
Religion and of Asian Languages and Literatures,
University of Iowa.Dilip Simeon
New DelhiProfessor Jayadeva Uyangoda
Head of Department of
Political Science,
University of Colombo, Sri LankaDr Kumari Jayawardena
Secretary Social Scientists Association
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Professor Leslie Gunewardana,
Former Vice Chancellor,
Peradeniya University,
Sri Lanka
Gautam Patel
Bombay, IndiaProf.Dr. Harry Falk,
Freie Universität Berlin
Chair for Sanskrit and Indian Philology
Professor Satish Saberwal.
Delhi.
Dr Shalini Advani
Principal British School New Delhi
Dr Rimli Bhattacharya
Department of English
University of Delhi
Neeti Nair
Dept of History, East Hall,
Tufts University,
Medford MA - 02155
Dr Indu Agnihotri
Vivekanand Mahila College
Delhi University
Kuldeep Kumar
Independent Journalist
New Delhi
Dr Shaswati Mazumdar
Department of Foreign Languages
University of Delhi
Aniruddha Das
Center for Neurobiology and Behavior
Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons
1051 Riverside Drive,
NY State Psych. Instt Kolb Resrch Annex (Bldg. 87), Rm 5-05
New York, NY 10032-2695
Soma Ghosh.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Building 6 Room # 3A02
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20892-2753
USA
Shamik Ghosh
lab#518, Smith building
Brigham and Women's hospital
one jimmy fund way
Boston, MA02115
Dr. Tapas Saha
Institute: National Institute of Health,
Bethesda MD 20892
Preeti Chopra
Department of Architecture
University of California, Berkeley
Dr Ajay Dandekar
Poona
Dr. Uma Chakravarti
New Delhi
Dr Amrita Basu
Professor of Political Science and Women's and Gender Studies
Amherst University
USA
Dr Caroline Osella,
Department of Anthropology and sociology,
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
University of London, UK.
Caroline Osella, SOAS anthropology.
Harsh Kapoor,
South Asia Citizens Web,
France