NEW DELHI: The Jawaharlal Nehru University has cancelled a webinar on Kashmir, with vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar saying that the subject was found to be “objectionable and provocative” and the organisers had not sought permission for the event.
The talk, titled ‘Gendered Resistance and Fresh Challenges in Post-2019 Kashmir’, was to be held at the university’s Centre For Women’s Studies at 8.30 pm on Friday. Ather Zia, a political anthropologist, author, poet and activist was the speaker.
“The notice of the webinar says ‘this talk will draw and build upon the ethnography of ‘gendered resistance to Indian occupation in Kashmir’. This is a highly objectionable and a provocative subject, which questions the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country. JNU cannot be a platform to this kind of very questionable webinars. The matter is being inquired into,” Kumar said in a statement.
The V-C said as soon as the matter came to its notice, the JNU administration instructed the faculty member organising the event to cancel it. “The faculty member did not seek the permission of administration before planning such an event,” Kumar said. An immediate response was not available from the faculty members of the Centre For Women’s Studies.
The JNU unit of RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad demanded action against the chairperson of the Centre.
Rohit Kumar, secretary, ABVP-JNU said action should be taken against the chairperson of the Centre for Women’s Studies, faculties concerned and JNU registrar who allowed the programme and “mindlessly organised such a webinar by twisting facts with the intention to create a distorted narrative on J&K.
Ire over use of ‘occupation’
The V-C said the notice of the webinar said the talk will build upon ethnography of ‘gendered resistance to Indian occupation in Kashmir’, which was highly objectionable.