To the Vice Chancellor,

Central University of Haryana

Dear Vice Chancellor:

We write in support of Dr. Snehsata Manav and Dr. Manoj Kumar of the Department of English and Foreign Languages who have recently come under attack for their sponsorship of a student production on your campus of the play “Draupadi” based on a story by Mahasweta Devi who, as you know, is universally recognized as a towering figure in contemporary Indian literature. Her writings, translated into most Indian languages, have highlighted the struggles of oppressed and marginalized women and men. Her story “Draupadi”, whose dramatized version has been highly acclaimed and performed all over India, deals with the sensitive but enormously important question of the ethics of deploying the armed forces in dealing with civil disturbances within the country. This question, along with specific instances of rapes committed by army personnel in different parts of India, continues to be debated in the Indian public media and has engaged the attention of political leaders as well as the courts.

We strongly believe that it is both unjust and unwise to accuse intellectually responsible teachers of hurting the sentiments of some sections of opinion. The recent demise of Mahasweta Devi was a perfect occasion to engage university students in a serious discussion on why some of the greatest writers and artists of India have been concerned about the excesses of state violence carried out at the behest of those in power, no matter what their party or ideology.

We hope you will convey our views to those who have accused Dr. Manav and Dr. Kumar of being hurtful and unpatriotic. The university campus needs to be fostered as a place where difficult questions can be debated in a spirit of intellectual openness and without fear of censure.

Sincerely,

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, University Professor in the Humanities, Columbia University, New York

Akeel Bilgrami, Stanley Morgenbesser Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University, New York

Gauri Viswanathan, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University, New York

Partha Chatterjee, Professor of anthropology, Columbia University, New York

Romila Thapar, Professor Emeritus in History, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Ramachandra Guha, author, Bengaluru

Amiya Kumar Bagchi, Emeritus Professor, Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata

Sumanta Banerjee, author, Hyderabad

Prabhat Patnaik, Professor Emeritus, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Samik Bandyopadhyay, Tagore National Fellow, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Sobhanlal Dattagupta, Former S. N. Banerjee Professor of Political Science, University of Calcutta

Nandini Sundar, Professor of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi

Lakshmi Subramanian, Professor of History, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta

Nivedita Menon, Professor of Political Theory, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

B. Ananthakrishnan, Professor of Theatre Arts, University of Hyderabad

Jayati Ghosh, Professor, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Nirmalya Mukherjee, Professor of Philosophy, University of Delhi

Janaki Nair, Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Manabi Majumdar, Professor of Political Science, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta

Neeladri Bhattacharya, Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Moinak Biswas, Professor of Film Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata

Udaya Kumar, Professor of English, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Aditya Nigam, Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing societies, Delhi

Dwaipayan Bhattacharya, Professor, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Sudipto Chatterjee, Professor of Cultural Studies, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta

Aniket Alam, Visiting Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad

Anand Teltumbde, Goa Institute of Management, Goa

P. Sanal Mohan, Associate Professor, School of Social sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam

Kiran Kesavamurthy, Assistance Professor of Cultural Studies, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta

Garga Chatterjee, Assistant Professor Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata

Pralay Majumdar, Assistant Professor of Biology, Presidency University, Kolkata

Trina Banerjee, Assistant Professor of Cultural Studies, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta

Baidik Bhattacharya, Assistat Professor of English, University of Delhi

Maidul Islam, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta

Anup Dhar, Associate Professor, School of Human Studies, Ambedkar University, Delhi