Jindal University professor Sameena Dalwai was targeted by trolls on social media due to her Muslim identity and political beliefs, a group of over 500 academicians said in a letter supporting her.
On September 23, during a lecture on sexuality and desire, Dalwai had opened a dating app and projected it onto a screen in a bid to analyse the language of dating profiles. However, this exercise allegedly caused discomfort among some students as the profiles of their friends also popped up on the screen. She closed down the app after objections from the students.
Weeks later when a lectured delivered by political scientist Achin Vanaik on the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict triggered a controversy, clips from Dalwai’s lecture on dating also surfaced on social media. In his talk, Vanaik had said that Zionism and Hindutva were different as the former was “not anti-Muslim” while the latter was “fundamentally and foundationally anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic”.
Subsequently, a screenshot of an email from Dalwai to fellow faculty members defending Vanaik’s talk also went viral. In her email, she had written about “Jai Shri Ram” slogans being chanted on campus and “right-wing” students and faculty organising their “own events”.
On December 22, the Haryana Police filed a first information report against Dalwai for harming the dignity of women and discriminating against students on a religious and ideological basis.
The signatories of the letter include Vanaik, writer Nivedita Menon, historians Ramachandra Guha and Tanika Sarkar, professors Nandini Sundar and Niraja Jayal and lawyer Lawrence Liang.
In their letter, the academicians accused the Haryana Women’s Commission, which picked up the clips of Dalwai’s lecture and began an investigation, of making a media spectacle and holding the professor guilty.
The group said that the panel members visited the university, elicited student responses without the university administration being present and finally delivered their verdict, finding Dalwai guilty.
“Twitter posts became evidence, emotive language replaced logic, confidential university documents were posted on social media,” it said. “The whole process showed utter disregard for legal procedures and a vicious political agenda.”
The group also said that it was troubled to see that the university did not follow due process to establish the truth behind the allegations against Dalwai. “By succumbing to political pressure thus, Jindal university has set a damning precedent for future attacks on academic freedom,” it said.
The academicians said they were dismayed that discussions of sexuality or politics are assumed to harm the dignity of women or discriminate against students.
“We believe she is being persecuted for her Muslim identity and her political beliefs, by people who define India with a narrow, ignorant lens,” the group said. “Ironically Haryana Women’s Commission has charged Sameena Dalwai for outraging the dignity of women, while completely ignoring the battle against sexual harassment by women wrestlers of Haryana.”
It added: “We call upon the concerned authorities in the State of Haryana, including the Police and Judiciary, to put an end to this vicious witch hunt.”
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