HYDERABAD: American historian Audrey Truschke on Wednesday took to social media and formally announced the cancellation of her lecture in the city on August 11. She said, “I deeply regret to say that my lecture in Hyderabad scheduled for August 11 has been cancelled.”
The cancellation of the lecture titled “Unpopular Stories: Narrating the Indo-Islamic Past and Navigating Present-day Prejudices” was first reported in TNIE. Soon after the announcement, support has started pouring in with many offering suggestions for alternate venues and others criticising ‘murder of freedom of speech.’
“The organisers took this decision after being informed by the Hyderabad police that several individuals had written letters protesting my appearance. 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,” she communicated through her Facebook handle. “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,” she lamented through social media.
Soon after her announcement, disappointed supporters called out the vigilantes on being ‘intolerant’. While some termed the cancellation ‘shameful’, others called it ‘unfortunate’.
Audrey Truschke is a popular American historian who has done extensive work on Indian history. She also has often come under attack from right wing trolls on Twitter for her controversial statements on Indian culture and history backed with historical evidences.