SAHMAT’s statement on NBT’s decision to revoke reprint of Bipan Chandra’s book

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
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of his book, Communalism – a Primer; and it is reported that the English and Urdu versions of the book are also being withdrawn.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

  1. Irfan Habib, AMU, Aligarh
  2. Romila Thapar, JNU, New Delhi
  3. D.N. Jha, Delhi University (DU)
  4. Prabhat Patnaik, JNU
  5. K.N. Panikkar, JNU
  6. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, JNU
  7. J.V.Naik, Bombay University
  8. Ravi Ahuja, Gottingen, Germany
  9. Shireen Moosvi, AMU
  10. Jane Ohlmeyer, Trinity College, Dublin
  11. Rajan Gurukkal, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam
  12. Kesavan Veluthat, DU
  13. Sukhmani Bal Riar, Punjab University, Chandigarh
  14. Ajay Patnaik, JNU
  15. Shantha Sinha, HCU
  16. Erhan Dogan, Turkey
  17. Arjun Dev, NCERT
  18. V Krishna Ananth, Sikkim Central University
  19. Mridula Mukherjee, JNU
  20. Salil Misra, Ambedkar University, AU
  21. Vivan Sundaram
  22. C.P.Chandrasekhar, JNU
  23. Harsh Mander, Centre for Equity Studies
  24. Sajal Nag, Assam University, Silchar
  25. Aditya Mukherjee JNU
  26. K.L. Tuteja (IIAS, Shimla)
  27. Bhupendra Yadav, Azim Premji University, APU
  28. Sarvani Gooptu, Netaji Institue for Asian Studies
  29. Gopinath Ravindran, Jamia Millia Islamia
  30. Sebastian Joseph, UCC, Kerala
  31. Shabnam Hashmi, Anhad
  32. Peter Pozefsky, Wooster College, USA
  33. Thierry Costanzo, Strasbourg University, France
  34. Geeta Kapur
  35. Sohail Hashmi
  36. Indu Chandrashekhar, Tulika Press
  37. Abhijit Sarkar, Oxford
  38. Alex Tickell, Open University, Walton Hall, UK
  39. Ania Loomba, Univ of Pennsylvania, USA
  40. Iqtidar Alam Khan, AMU
  41. Ishrat Alam, AMU
  42. Ramesh Rawat, AMU
  43. Nadeem Rezavi, AMU
  44. Pradeep K. Saxena, AMU
  45. Jawed Akhtar, AMU
  46. T. N. Satheesan, AMU
  47. Kranti Pal, AMU
  48. Shamim Akhtar, AMU
  49. Vijay Bisaria, AMU
  50. Ved Prakash, AMU
  51. Indira Arjun Dev, NCERT
  52. Himanshu, JNU
  53. Udaya Kumar, JNU
  54. Saradindu Bhaduri, JNU
  55. Mohan Rao, JNU
  56. Jayati Ghosh, JNU
  57. Ayesha Kidwai, JNU
  58. Rajat Datta, JNU
  59. Surajit Das, JNU
  60. P. Billimale, JNU
  61. Neeladri Bhattacharya, JNU
  62. KJ Mukherjee, JNU
  63. Kunal Chakrabarti, JNU
  64. Rakesh Batabyal, JNU
  65. Dhruv Rainz, JNU
  66. Hemant Adlakha, JNU
  67. Sucheta Mahajan, JNU
  68. Bhagwan Josh, JNU
  69. Jyoti Atwal, JNU
  70. Urmimala Sarkar, JNU
  71. Supriya Varma, JNU
  72. Rajan Kumar, JNU
  73. Ira Bhaskar, JNU
  74. R Mahalakshmi, JNU
  75. Deepak Kumar, JNU
  76. V V Krishna, JNU
  77. Surajit Mazumdar, JNU
  78. Ranjani Mazumdar, JNU
  79. Brahma Prakash, JNU
  80. Sangeeta Dasgupta, JNU
  81. Biswajit Dhar, JNU
  82. Nivedita Menon, JNU
  83. Shukla Sawant, JNU
  84. Susan Vishwanathan, JNU
  85. Burton Cleetus, JNU
  86. Najaf Haider, JNU
  87. Anvinash, JNU
  88. Rohit, JNU
  89. K.M. Shrimali, DU
  90. Amar Farooqui, DU
  91. B.P. Sahu, DU
  92. Biswamoy Pati, DU
  93. Prabhu Mohapatra, DU
  94. Yasser Arafat, DU
  95. Shamsul Islam, DU
  96. Shubhra Chakrabarti, DU
  97. Shobhana Warrier, DU
  98. Maya John, DU
  99. Christhu Doss, DU
  100. Richa Raj, DU
  101. Saurabh Bajpai, DU
  102. Amita Paliwal, DU
  103. Amit k Suman , DU
  104. Ranjana Das, DU
  105. Gulzar Hussain, DU
  106. Rajesh, DU
  107. V.K.Dixit, DU
  108. Mukul Chaturvedi, DU
  109. Vibha Iyer, DU
  110. Sangeeta Kumari, DU
  111. Tanu Parashar, DU
  112. Shams Tabrez, DU
  113. Gagan Preet Singh, DU
  114. Alok Bajpai, JNU
  115. Shashi Bhushan Deo,JNU
  116. Akanksha Kumar, JNU
  117. Sukanya Kanarally, JNU
  118. Kashmir Dhankar, JNU
  119. Shubhneet Kaushik, JNU
  120. Sudha Tiwari, JNU
  121. Sayandeb Chowdhury, AU
  122. Bodh Prakash, AU
  123. Rukmini Sen, AU
  124. Virendra Yadav
  125. R.P.Bahuguna ,Jamia Millia
  126. Amman Madan, APU
  127. Manu Mathai, APU
  128. Suraj Jacob, APU
  129. Gayatri Menon, APU
  130. Jyotirmaya Sharma ,HCU
  131. Atlury Murali, HCU
  132. David Thomas
  133. Chandana Dey, Editor, Social Science Press
  134. Jaques Pouchepadass, Pondicherry
  135. Anna Bryson, Queens University, Belfast
  136. Felix Padel, JNIAS
  137. Ahona Panda, Chicago University
  138. Dr Vinita Damodaran, Sussex University

Courtesy: TheWire.In
Published on: Sep 7, 2016 @ 17:10 

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