Vicious Campaign against Feminist Scholar

We, the undersigned, wish to express our shock and indignation at the vicious right wing media campaign conducted over the past few days against well-known feminist scholar and Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Nivedita Menon.

This media campaign mischievously decontextualises her lecture at the public teach-in programme in JNU with the use of selective clips and inflammatory commentary.

The television channel Zee has led the main campaign by branding Professor Menon as ‘anti-national’ and instigating viewers to take action. Such branding is tantamount to a television channel acting as both judge and jury, and directly placing an individual’s rights and safety under threat.

The use of television media to attack intellectuals and instigate vigilante action is a feature of authoritarian regimes worldwide. Similar tendencies are visible in recent months in India. Singling out individuals and creating a mass-frenzy against them by using the medium of TV is a dangerous trend that directly incites and encourages violence. This is a deep disregard for any process of law.

We saw Zee TV do this earlier when doctored videos became the basis of arrest and harassment of JNU students. In this case, Twitter and social media campaigns have followed attacks on Professor Menon, demanding the framing of sedition charges against her and wielding open threats of rape. Most disturbingly, there are media reports of police complaints filed by interested parties demanding ‘action’ against Professor Menon.

Professor Menon is a renowned scholar and feminist thinker ; her texts are used in university syllabi worldwide. As a prominent scholar and activist she has intervened in academic and public debates for decades. Professor Menon has also been known as an inspiring teacher for 30 years, guiding generations of students who now work in India and abroad. She has never shied away from intellectual debate in academic and public forums, passionately intervening in debates on feminism and social theory. This is the first time that her own freedom to articulate her ideas has been so viciously attacked in an orchestrated media campaign.

The freedom to articulate ideas is the basis of a university. When opinions voiced in a public lecture by an academic are made part of a selective media campaign that seeks not to debate but simply to malign, both democracy and the university are under threat.

What is under question are not just Professor Menon’s ideas but also the very freedom for academics and citizens. We condemn this media campaign and associated threats, urging all academics and intellectuals to stand with Professor Menon at this time.

We call on the Vice Chancellor of JNU to swiftly defend Professor Menon from such attacks and protect the sanctity of university debate.

We urge the JNU administration to stand by its faculty’s right to hold individual opinions and condemn all efforts to diminish this. We call on the university to immediately ensure that freedoms that form its very academic basis are not eroded in this moment. We call further for every censure and action against the unlawful actions of the television channels in question. Finally, we urge all well wishers of a democratic India to stand by Professor Menon for their own freedoms, and not just hers.

Gananath Obeyesekere, Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus, Princeton University
Partha Chatterjee, Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University
Mahmood Mamdani, Professor of Government and International Affairs, Columbia University
Gopal Guru, Professor, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Sumit Sarkar, former Professor of History, University of Delhi
Tanika Sarkar, Professor of History, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Sudhir Chandra, historian based in Delhi
Nayanjot Lahiri, Professor of History, Ashoka University.
Mrinalini Sinha, Professor, University of Michigan
Timothy Mitchell, Professor of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies, Columbia University
Dipesh Chakrabarty, Professor of History, University of Chicago, USA
Gyan Prakash, Professor of History, Princeton University
Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Professor of History, UCLA
Homi Bhabha, Professor of English and Director, Mahindra Humanities Center, Harvard University
Rosalind C. Morris, Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University
David Hardiman, Emeritus Professor of History, University of Warwick
Akeel Bilgrami, Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University
Veena Das, Professor of Anthropology, Johns Hopkins University
Ania Loomba, Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania
Michael Taussig, Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University, New York
Sundar Sarukkai, Professor of Philosophy, Manipal University
Pradeep Jeganathan, Professor of Sociology,Shiv Nadar University
Kavita Panjabi, Professor, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
Isabel Hofmeyr, Professor of African Languages and Literature, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Shireen Hassim, Professor of Political Science, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Srila Roy, Professor of Sociology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Kelly Gillespie, Professor of Anthropology, Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg, South Africa
Ivor Chipkin, Director Public Affairs Research Institute, Johannesburg
Premesh Lalu, Professor, Director, DST/NRF Flagship on Critical Thought in African Humanities, University of the Western Cape
Lila Abu-Lughod, Professor, Columbia University
Sheldon Pollock, Professor of Sanskrit and South Asian Studies,Columbia University, New York
Hamid Dabashi, Professor, Columbia University, New York
Firdous Azim, Department of English and Humanities, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Kama Maclean, Associate Professor, South Asian and World History, School of Humanities and Languages, UNSW Australia
Ashwin, Independent Researcher, based in Azim Premji University, Bangalore
V. J. Varghese, Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of Hyderabad
José Emilio Burucúa, Fellow member of the Institut d’Études Avancées, Nantes, France
Danai Mupotsa, Lecturer, African Literature, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Vashna Jagarnath, Senior Lecturer, History Department, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
Thiven Reddy, Department of Political Studies, University of Cape Town
Ruchi Chaturvedi, Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Patrick Olivelle, Professor, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Sambuddha Sen, Professor, Shiv Nadar University
Hina Saiyada, Filmmaker, Mumbai
Asanda Benya, University of Cape Town, Dept of Sociology, South Africa
Ravindran Sriramachandran, Dept. of Anthropology/ Sociology, Ashoka University
Koni Benson, University of Cape Town
Vedita Cowaloosur, Postdoc Fellow at Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Enocent Msindo, Associate Professor of History, Rhodes University Grahamstown, South Africa
Naledi Nomalanga Mkhize, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
Shari Daya, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Heidi Grunebaum, Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape, South Africa.
Francis Cody, Associate Professor Anthropology and Asian Institute, University of Toronto
Jinee Lokaneeta, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and International Relations, Drew University, United States of America
Tamara Shefer, Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Richard Pithouse, Professor, Rhodes University, South Africa
Ayesha Kidwai, Centre for Linguistics, Jawaharlal Nehru University,
Mary John, Professor, Centre for Women’s Development Studies, Delhi
Ravi S Vasudevan, Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi
Rochelle Pinto, Academic based in Delhi
Tarangini Sriraman, Visiting Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi
Vipin Kumar, Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi
Parthasarathi Muthukaruppan, English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad
Lawrence Liang, Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore
Ujjwal Kumar Singh, Professor, Dept of Political Science, University of Delhi
Awadhendra Sharan, Associate Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi
Ravikant, Assistant Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi
Udaya Kumar, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Rita Kothari, Professor, IIT Gandhinagar
Rakesh Pandey, Assistant Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi
Shilpa Phadke, Assistant Professor, Centre for Media and Cultural Studies, TISS, Mumbai
Sunalini Kumar, Visiting Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi
Priyadarshini Vijaisri, Associate Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi
Shail Mayaram, Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi
Satish Deshpande, Professor, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi
Aarti Sethi, Doctoral Researcher, Columbia University, New York
Abhay Kumar Dubey, Director, Indian Languages Programme, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, De ;hi
Manoranjan Mohanty, Professor, Centre for Social Development, Delhi
Yengkhom Jilangamba, Academic based in Delhi
Anupama Roy, Professor, Centre for Political Studies, JNU, Delhi
Janaki Nair, Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, JNU, Delhi
Rukun Advani, Publisher, Permanent Black, Ranikhet
Anuradha Roy, Publisher, Permanent Black, Ranikhet
Lyla Mehta, Professor, Institute of Development Studies, UK
Michael Neocosmos, Professor and Director UHURU, Rhodes University, South Africa
Dhammamegha Annie Leatt, Research Associate, Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research Wits University, Johannesburg
Tarun Bhartiya, Filmmaker, Member Thma U Rangli Juki(TUR), Meghalaya
Rasigan Maharajh, Chief Director, Institute for Economic Research on Innovation, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa
Polo Moji, Lecturer, French and Francophone Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Mathe Ntsekhe, National University of Lesotho
Shohini Ghosh, Professor, AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia
Sabeena Gadihoke, Associate Professor, AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia
Sabina Kidwai. Associate Professor,AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia
Moinak Biswas, Professor, Department of Film Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
Pradip K Datta, Professor, Centre for Comparative Politics and Political Theory, SIS, JNU
Kaushik Ghosh, Anthropologist, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Sarada Balagopalan, Associate Professor, Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, USA
Maurits van Bever Donker, Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape
Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya, Professor, Centre for Political Studies, JNU
Sanjeeb Mukherjee, Professor, Dept of Political Science, University of Calcutta
Sanjay Kak, Filmmaker, New Delhi
Saroj Giri, Dept of Political Science, University of Delhi
Sunita Thakur, Journalist, BBC
Kelly Gillespie, Head, Department of Anthropology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Aparna Balachandran, Department of History, University of Delhi
C.P.Geevan, Independent Researcher, Ahmedabad
Ashish Kothari, Pune
Sharad Chari, Professor of Anthropology, Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg
Abhinav Kumar, Researcher, Azim Premji Foundation
Neema Pathak Broome, member Kalpavriksh, Pune
Charu Gupta, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Delhi
Projit Bihari Mukharji, Assistant Professor, History & Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania
Camalita Naicker, PhD Candidate, UHURU, Rhodes University South Africa, Former Student at JNU
Satadru Sen, Professor of History, Queens College & Graduate Center, City University of New York
Noosim Naimasiah, Makerere Institute of Social Research, Kampala, Uganda
Alexandra Muller, Gender Health and Justice Research Unit, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Rohan D’ Souza, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University
Jonathan Gil Harris, Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of English, Ashoka University
Geeta Patel, Director, UVA in India Program, Associate Professor, University of Virginia
Anjali Arondekar, Associate Professor, Dept. of Feminist Studies University of California, Santa Cruz
Raka Ray Professor, Department of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley
Maya Krishna Rao, Artiste, Delhi
Suvir Kaul, Professor, Department of English, University of Pennsylvania
Nathaniel Roberts, Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
David Kazanjian, Professor of English, Program in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory, University of Pennsylvania
Mukul Kesavan, Dept of History, Jamia Millia Islamia
Lakshmi Subramanian, Professor of History, Centre for the Study of Social Sciences, Kolkata
Rosinka Chaudhuri, Professor of Cultural Studies, CSSS, Kolkata
Rimli Bhattacharya, Senior Fellow in Cultural Studies, CSSS, Kolkata
Ritajyoti Bandyopadhyay, Assistant Professor of Sociology, CSSS, Kolkata
Kiran Kesavamurthy, Assistant Professor of Cultural Studies, CSSS, Kolkata
Prachi Deshpande, Associate Professor of History, CSSS, Kolkata
Suren Pillay, Associate Professor, Center for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Ranjani Mazumdar, Professor, School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU
Ravi Sundaram, Professor, CSDS, Delhi
Shirin M. Rai, Professor, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick
Madhusree Mukherjee, Writer
Aniket Alam, Executive Editor, Economic and Political Weekly
Alice Morris, Director, PeopleCan Services, Ahmedabad
Kian Tajbakhsh,Visiting Professor of Urban Planning, Columbia University, New York