Academic who lectured on Palestine rejects anti-Hindu claim

A lecture on the history and politics of Palestine, delivered by a noted Indian academic at a private university in India, has led to a row after allegations arose claiming that Anti-Hindu remarks were made during his speech.

This prompted the university authorities to ask the professor to express regret. But Achin Vanaik, the critically acclaimed writer and former head of department of political science at the University of Delhi, affirmed his commitment to the content of the lecture and refused.

Vanaik’s lecture, “The history and politics of the Palestinian present”, was delivered at OP Jindal University at Sonepat in the northern state of Haryana on 1 November. The lecture became embroiled in controversy when some leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed the event was organised in support of Hamas. Video clips of the lecture were circulated.

The ruling BJP has taken an unreservedly pro-Israeli stance in its foreign policy.

When the university asked Vanaik to “express regret” over his “irresponsible” remarks, the professor argued that the lecture had been misconstrued and that his words had been “taken out of context”.

Following the lecture, Naor Gilon, the Israeli ambassador to India, wrote to the university’s founding vice-chancellor, C Raj Kumar, saying he couldn't understand why an event delegitimising the state of Israel was hosted at the university.

On 13 November, University Registrar Dabiru Sridhar Patnaik termed Vanaik’s remarks on Hindutva’s anti-Muslim stance “uncalled for” and “unacceptable”.

“For our students and faculty, it was informative to learn that Zionism is not anti-Muslim. But it was unnecessary and objectionable that you added that Hindutva is anti-Muslim,” Patnaik wrote.

It is alleged that during the lecture, Vanaik raised questions about Israel’s actions in Gaza and also gave a statement in support of Hamas. It is being claimed that the professor also allegedly attacked the Modi government over India’s stand on the conflict.

Vanaik, on the contrary, asserted that the idea that he was pro-terrorism was totally baseless and that he viewed Hamas’ action as a terrorist activity and did not support it.

“The idea that I am pro-terrorism is absolute nonsense. My words were absolutely taken out of context,” he told The Hindu newspaper.

Efforts were made to contact Achin Vanaik, but he did not respond.

Cancellation of second lecture

Following the OP Jindal incident, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay called off Vanaik’s planned talk on the Israel-Palestine conflict which was originally slated for 13 November at IIT Bombay but rescheduled for 14 November.

However, on 14 November, students were informed that the event was cancelled. A faction of students from IIT Bombay, known on X (formerly Twitter) as IIT B for Bharat, had opposed Vanaik’s talk and urged institute authorities to cancel it.

Vanaik, who was expected to delve into the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict and consequences of the recent outbreak of violence during the talk, said it was distressing that the institute had yielded to student demands and cancelled the talk. He said his views in the previous talk at OP Jindal University had been misrepresented.

However, a student collective from IIT Bombay, known as IIT Bombay for Justice, condemned the cancellation, arguing it was a curtailment of academic freedom within the institute. The students said the cancellation lacked a clear rationale and the institute’s administration had yielded to pressure from a radical right-wing group on the campus after the group launched a Twitter campaign.

The student collective shared their own statement on Instagram, saying the cancellation of Vanaik’s talk sparked controversy due to his pro-Palestine stance, leading to accusations of his being “pro-Hamas” and “anti-Hindu”.

According to the students, this was not an isolated incident. Earlier, the screening on the IIT Bombay campus of the film Arna’s Children, which focuses on Palestine, faced disruptions and threats.

The student collective also reported the cancellation of another campus-based film screening, this time of Little Palestine, depicting a Syrian refugee camp.

Police complaint against professor

On 10 November some students of IIT Bombay also lodged a police complaint against Professor Sharmistha Saha of the humanities and social sciences department and guest speaker Sudhanva Deshpande for expressing support for Palestinian militants during a virtual talk held on 6 November.

A student said Saha hosted a “hateful speaker” like Deshpande to promote biased and factually wrong narratives in a bid to “indoctrinate students”.

In their complaint to the police, students alleged that Saha had misused her position to invite Deshpande, a radical leftist, who had exalted Palestinian terrorist Zakaria Zubeidi, and this jeopardised the academic integrity and safety of the institute.

Students in custody

Meanwhile, students have been taken into custody at several places across India for organising pro-Palestine protests.

Last month in Hyderabad, students, primarily from the University of Hyderabad and the English and Foreign Languages University, alleged that they were taken into custody within a few minutes of commencing their demonstration which aimed to express solidarity with the Palestinian people and condemn Israel for its bombardment of Gaza.

Many students displayed signs with messages such as “Free Palestine”, “Boycott Zionism and Israel”, “Long live Palestine”, and “Gaza will never die”. They denounced Israeli aggression in Gaza and demanded an end to its actions.

Similarly, students from Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi were also detained after they organised a protest march. JMI students were allegedly subjected to mistreatment by the university’s proctorial team and security forces when they assembled on the university campus to protest.

Last month several students at Aligarh Muslim University were booked for conducting a rally in support of Palestine, allegedly without permission of the university administration.

The protesting students reportedly raised slogans and carried posters and banners expressing solidarity with Palestine and condemning Israel’s offensive. A complaint was lodged against four protesters while many other students who are yet to be identified have also been booked, according to the police.

While over 300 students participated in the protest, only Atif Ahmed, Mohammed Khalid, Kamran and Naved Chaudhary were named. They asserted that they were participants in the protest and were not its primary organisers, but the AMU administration singled them out due to their participation in another protest held in September.

“Palestinians have been victims and their rights violated for decades. Supporting Palestinians does not amount to supporting Hamas and several similar protests had been organised on campus in the past against any oppression across the world,” Chaudhary told University World News.