Recently, National Book Trust (NBT), India has decided to revoke the reprint of Hindi version of historian Bipan Chandra’s book Communalism: A Primer.
Here is the official statement of Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) on Trust’s move:
SAHMAT
Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust
29, Feroze Shah Road,New Delhi-110001
Telephone- 23381276/ 23070787
[email protected]
sahmat.org
Date 7.9.2016
Statement on Bipan Chandra’s Book
Professor Bipan Chandra was not only one of India’s foremost historians, but also one of the most uncompromising defenders of the secular and democratic cause in this country. As Chairman of the National Book Trust (NBT), he breathed a new life into it.
We have been shocked to learn that the very National Book Trust over which he had presided, has revoked the reprint order for the Hindi version of his book, Communalism – a Primer; and it is reported that the English and Urdu versions of the book are also being withdrawn.
Such action on part of the NBT is a gross violation of freedom of views, and amounts in effect to the assumption that communalism is now the official doctrine of the country and no criticism of it or its practitioners can be permitted.
As academics and citizens we fear that such actions as that of the NBT in respect of Bipan Chandra’s book portend the imposition of an authoritarian regime. We, therefore, demand that the NBT remove its ban on Communalism-a Primer and continue to reprint and publish it.
Signatories
- Irfan Habib, AMU, Aligarh
- Romila Thapar, JNU, New Delhi
- D.N. Jha, Delhi University (DU)
- Prabhat Patnaik, JNU
- K.N. Panikkar, JNU
- Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, JNU
- J.V.Naik, Bombay University
- Ravi Ahuja, Gottingen, Germany
- Shireen Moosvi, AMU
- Jane Ohlmeyer, Trinity College, Dublin
- Rajan Gurukkal, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam
- Kesavan Veluthat, DU
- Sukhmani Bal Riar, Punjab University, Chandigarh
- Ajay Patnaik, JNU
- Shantha Sinha, HCU
- Erhan Dogan, Turkey
- Arjun Dev, NCERT
- V Krishna Ananth, Sikkim Central University
- Mridula Mukherjee, JNU
- Salil Misra, Ambedkar University, AU
- Vivan Sundaram
- C.P.Chandrasekhar, JNU
- Harsh Mander, Centre for Equity Studies
- Sajal Nag, Assam University, Silchar
- Aditya Mukherjee JNU
- K.L. Tuteja (IIAS, Shimla)
- Bhupendra Yadav, Azim Premji University, APU
- Sarvani Gooptu, Netaji Institue for Asian Studies
- Gopinath Ravindran, Jamia Millia Islamia
- Sebastian Joseph, UCC, Kerala
- Shabnam Hashmi, Anhad
- Peter Pozefsky, Wooster College, USA
- Thierry Costanzo, Strasbourg University, France
- Geeta Kapur
- Sohail Hashmi
- Indu Chandrashekhar, Tulika Press
- Abhijit Sarkar, Oxford
- Alex Tickell, Open University, Walton Hall, UK
- Ania Loomba, Univ of Pennsylvania, USA
- Iqtidar Alam Khan, AMU
- Ishrat Alam, AMU
- Ramesh Rawat, AMU
- Nadeem Rezavi, AMU
- Pradeep K. Saxena, AMU
- Jawed Akhtar, AMU
- T. N. Satheesan, AMU
- Kranti Pal, AMU
- Shamim Akhtar, AMU
- Vijay Bisaria, AMU
- Ved Prakash, AMU
- Indira Arjun Dev, NCERT
- Himanshu, JNU
- Udaya Kumar, JNU
- Saradindu Bhaduri, JNU
- Mohan Rao, JNU
- Jayati Ghosh, JNU
- Ayesha Kidwai, JNU
- Rajat Datta, JNU
- Surajit Das, JNU
- P. Billimale, JNU
- Neeladri Bhattacharya, JNU
- KJ Mukherjee, JNU
- Kunal Chakrabarti, JNU
- Rakesh Batabyal, JNU
- Dhruv Rainz, JNU
- Hemant Adlakha, JNU
- Sucheta Mahajan, JNU
- Bhagwan Josh, JNU
- Jyoti Atwal, JNU
- Urmimala Sarkar, JNU
- Supriya Varma, JNU
- Rajan Kumar, JNU
- Ira Bhaskar, JNU
- R Mahalakshmi, JNU
- Deepak Kumar, JNU
- V V Krishna, JNU
- Surajit Mazumdar, JNU
- Ranjani Mazumdar, JNU
- Brahma Prakash, JNU
- Sangeeta Dasgupta, JNU
- Biswajit Dhar, JNU
- Nivedita Menon, JNU
- Shukla Sawant, JNU
- Susan Vishwanathan, JNU
- Burton Cleetus, JNU
- Najaf Haider, JNU
- Anvinash, JNU
- Rohit, JNU
- K.M. Shrimali, DU
- Amar Farooqui, DU
- B.P. Sahu, DU
- Biswamoy Pati, DU
- Prabhu Mohapatra, DU
- Yasser Arafat, DU
- Shamsul Islam, DU
- Shubhra Chakrabarti, DU
- Shobhana Warrier, DU
- Maya John, DU
- Christhu Doss, DU
- Richa Raj, DU
- Saurabh Bajpai, DU
- Amita Paliwal, DU
- Amit k Suman , DU
- Ranjana Das, DU
- Gulzar Hussain, DU
- Rajesh, DU
- V.K.Dixit, DU
- Mukul Chaturvedi, DU
- Vibha Iyer, DU
- Sangeeta Kumari, DU
- Tanu Parashar, DU
- Shams Tabrez, DU
- Gagan Preet Singh, DU
- Alok Bajpai, JNU
- Shashi Bhushan Deo,JNU
- Akanksha Kumar, JNU
- Sukanya Kanarally, JNU
- Kashmir Dhankar, JNU
- Shubhneet Kaushik, JNU
- Sudha Tiwari, JNU
- Sayandeb Chowdhury, AU
- Bodh Prakash, AU
- Rukmini Sen, AU
- Virendra Yadav
- R.P.Bahuguna ,Jamia Millia
- Amman Madan, APU
- Manu Mathai, APU
- Suraj Jacob, APU
- Gayatri Menon, APU
- Jyotirmaya Sharma ,HCU
- Atlury Murali, HCU
- David Thomas
- Chandana Dey, Editor, Social Science Press
- Jaques Pouchepadass, Pondicherry
- Anna Bryson, Queens University, Belfast
- Felix Padel, JNIAS
- Ahona Panda, Chicago University
- Dr Vinita Damodaran, Sussex University
Courtesy: TheWire.In
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