OTTAWA, Canada: Dr. Makarand R. Paranjape, poet, philosopher, author and Professor of English Literature at Jawaharlal Nehru University, was blocked from recording a conversation on “Drishti: Is there an Indian Way of Seeing?” with Adjunct Professor Dr. Harsha Dehejia at Carleton University.
This was allegedly done at the behest of another faculty member who managed to have the Carleton University cancel a video recording that expressed Indic Civilizational viewpoint.
The subject matter was purely academic-philosophical and aesthetic in nature and abuses at Prof. Paranjape were uncalled for “hate speech”, according to Shiv Bhasker of Overseas Friends of India (Canada). The studio administrator, he alleged was intimidated into canceling the scheduled recording. Dr. Harsha Dehejia, the host, was forced to walk back alongwith his guest, shaken and indignant.
Dr. Paranjape said that he “has never supported discrimination on the basis of caste, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, or sexual preference. It is indeed sad and disturbing,” he added, “when ideological masks are used to advance India-hating or India-bashing by intolerant groups who call themselves progressive or ‘Leftist,’ but end up suppressing freedom of expression and debate on campuses all over the world.”
When Dr. Gautam Sen, economist and former professor at London School of Economics, heard about this incident, he reacted saying that he attended an illuminating talk by Dr. Paranjape on identity politics at Queen Mary, University of London, which was well-received by an appreciative audience.
Following this incident of suppressing free speech, a determined group of Indo-Canadian concerned citizens, most of them highly qualified professionals, civil servants, and friends of India, rose up to challenge the forces of intimidation and “intellectual terrorism.
” Overseas Friends of India (OFI) decided to arrange a meeting for Dr. Paranjape to speak, albeit at short notice. The very next evening on May 4, Dr. Paranjape addressed a sizable audience of Indo-Canadians, touching on a number of issues, including the topic for which he had come to visit Carleton University.
Shiv Bhasker, the leader of the OFI in Ottawa, and the principal organizer of the resistance expressed satisfaction at the turn of events. He said, “OFI is resolved to meet the challenge of intellectual terrorism. Debate, free speech, and academic freedom should not be stifled on Canadian campuses by ideological crusaders, regardless of their persuasion.
The organization is contemplating taking the issue further with the administration of Carleton University.
India Post News Service
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