Hyderabad: Historian and American author Audrey Truschke took to social media regarding her talk being cancelled in Hyderabad and revealed that right-wing forces had stopped her.“Today is a sad day for the pursuit of knowledge and academic freedom and it is a happy day for proponents of the Hindu Rashtra,” Truschke said.
A day after the news of the event originally scheduled to be held on August 11 (Saturday) being called off broke, Truschke, went on to express, “I regret to say that my lecture in Hyderabad scheduled for Aug 11 titled ‘Unpopular Stories: Narrating the Indo-Islamic Past and Navigating Present-day Prejudices’ has been cancelled. The organisers took this decision after being informed by the Hyderabad police that several individuals had written letters protesting my appearance.
I saw only one such letter, and it was from an individual with self-admitted connections to the RSS and BJP.” “I was to speak in Hyderabad on several areas of my academic research, including Mughal history and Sanskrit literature. I was especially looking forward to talking with Hyderabadis about Aurangzeb’s brutal assaults on sultanates in the Deccan in the 1680s and debates concerning what brought about the end of Indian Buddhism in the early second millennium CE. I deeply regret that my presentation and subsequent exchange of ideas will not occur.”
The cancellation disappointed many history enthusiasts from the city who had booked their seats in advance. A reader of Deccan Chronicle, Padmaja Shaw, in a letter to the newspaper said, “We are dismayed to learn that vigilante groups have persuaded the Hyderabad police to deny permission for the public talk. Different venue owners are backing off under pressure from these forces who have said, without any basis, that Dr. Truschke will “make comments against our religion and deities.” The owner of one hall has used the baseless argument that Dr. Truschke will attack our gods and deities to cancel the talk.
The police have warned against ‘public repercussions’ and have denied permission for the lecture.” “As can be seen from the title of her talk, Dr. Truschke would be talking about medieval India and attempting to understand current prejudices about that period. This does not and will not show disrespect to anyone’s religious beliefs and convictions. Dr Truschke is being prevented to speak only because the vigilantes have no respect for History, added another enthusiast Rammanohar Reddy.
Following the author’s social post, many netizens expressed disappointed and pointed out the inefficiency of the Hyderabad police in handling the episode. Srinivas Kodali, a security researcher took to Twitter, “Asking for Freedom of Speech in Hyderabad these days is a great favour. Hyderabad Police why don’t you do your raids or decoy operations and arrest people instead of cancelling public events?”
This was not the author’s first visit to the city. She had visited Hyderabad earlier during her research trips. Truschke, however, was unavailable for comment. The Hyderabad police also did not want to comment on the matter.
