Full text: 139 academics condemn ‘vicious media campaign’ against JNU professor Nivedita Menon

A group of 139 academics from around the world has sent out an open letter decrying the “right-wing media campaign” against Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Nivedita Menon, a political scientist and well-known feminist scholar. The list of signatories includes some of the world's leading scholars including Partha Chatterjee, Homi Bhabha, Lila Abu-Lughod and Sheldon Pollock.

The letter criticises media outlets, in particular television channel Zee News, for branding Menon as “anti-national” by showing clips from her public lecture at JNU last month, which they said were decontextualised, chosen selectively and accompanied by inflammatory commentary. The signatories say this directly undermines Menon’s individual rights and safety.

The letter warns against television channels singling out individuals and “creating a mass frenzy”, saying this incites and encourages violence, and “disregards the process of law”. The letter cites instances in which Menon was threatened, both physically and with sedition charges. The signatories hail Menon as a prominent scholar and activist, and call upon the university to defend her and “protect the sanctity of university debate”.

Here is the full text of the letter:

We, the undersigned, wish to express our shock and indignation at the vicious

right wing media campaign conducted over the past few days against well-

known feminist scholar and Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Nivedita

Menon. This media campaign mischievously decontextualizes her lecture at the

public teach-in programme in JNU with the use of selective clips and

inflammatory commentary. The television channel Zee has led the main

campaign by branding Professor Menon as 'anti-national' and instigating viewers

to take action. Such branding is tantamount to a television channel acting as both

judge and jury, and directly placing an individual’s rights and safety under threat.

The use of television media to attack intellectuals and instigate vigilante action is

a feature of authoritarian regimes worldwide.  Similar tendencies are visible in

recent months in India. Singling out individuals and creating a mass-frenzy

against them by using the medium of TV is a dangerous trend that directly incites

and encourages violence. This is a deep disregard for any process of law. We saw

Zee TV do this earlier when doctored videos became the basis of arrest and

harassment of JNU students. In this case, Twitter and social media campaigns

have followed attacks on Professor Menon, demanding the framing of sedition

charges against her and wielding open threats of rape. Most disturbingly, there

are media reports of police complaints filed by interested parties demanding

‘action’ against Professor Menon.

Professor Menon is a renowned scholar and feminist thinker; her texts are used

in university syllabi worldwide. As a prominent scholar and activist she has

intervened in academic and public debates for decades. Professor Menon has

also been known as an inspiring teacher for thirty years, guiding generations of

students who now work in India and abroad. She has never shied away from

intellectual debate in academic and public forums, passionately intervening in

debates on feminism and social theory. This is the first time that her own

freedom to articulate her ideas has been so viciously attacked in an orchestrated

media campaign.

The freedom to articulate ideas is the basis of a university. When opinions voiced

in a public lecture by an academic are made part of a selective media campaign

that seeks not to debate but simply to malign, both democracy and the university

are under threat. What is under question are not just Professor Menon’s ideas

but also the very freedom for academics and citizens. We condemn this media

campaign and associated threats, urging all academics and intellectuals to stand

with Professor Menon at this time.

We call on the Vice Chancellor of JNU to swiftly defend Professor Menon

from such attacks and protect the sanctity of university debate. We urge the

JNU administration to stand by its faculty’s right to hold individual opinions and

condemn all efforts to diminish this. We call on the university to immediately

ensure that freedoms that form its very academic basis are not eroded in this

moment. We call further for every censure and action against the unlawful

actions of the television channels in question. Finally, we urge all well wishers of

a democratic India to stand by Professor Menon for their own freedoms, and not just hers.

1. Gananath Obeyesekere, Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus, Princeton

2. Partha Chatterjee, Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University

3. Mahmood Mamdani, Professor of Government and International Affairs,

Columbia University

4. Gopal Guru, Professor, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru

5. Sumit Sarkar, former Professor of History, University of Delhi

6. Tanika Sarkar, Professor of History, Jawaharlal Nehru University

7. Sudhir Chandra, historian based in Delhi

8. Nayanjot Lahiri, Professor of History, Ashoka University.

9. Mrinalini Sinha, Professor, University of Michigan

10. Timothy Mitchell, Professor of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African

Studies, Columbia University

11. Dipesh Chakrabarty, Professor of History, University of Chicago, USA

12. Gyan Prakash, Professor of History, Princeton University

13. Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Professor of History, UCLA

14. Homi Bhabha, Professor of English and Director, Mahindra Humanities

Center, Harvard University

15. Rosalind C. Morris, Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University

16. David Hardiman, Emeritus Professor of History, University of Warwick

17. Akeel Bilgrami, Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University

18. Veena Das, Professor of Anthropology, Johns Hopkins University

19. Ania Loomba, Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania

20. Michael Taussig, Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University, New York

21. Sundar Sarukkai, Professor of Philosophy, Manipal University

22. Pradeep Jeganathan, Professor of Sociology,Shiv Nadar University

23. Kavita Panjabi, Professor, Jadavpur University, Kolkata

24. Isabel Hofmeyr, Professor of African Languages and Literature, University of

Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

25. Shireen Hassim, Professor of Political Science, University of Witwatersrand,

Johannesburg, South Africa

26. Srila Roy, Professor of Sociology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,

27. Kelly Gillespie, Professor of Anthropology, Witwatersrand University,

Johannesburg, South Africa

28. Ivor Chipkin, Director Public Affairs Research Institute, Johannesburg

29. Premesh Lalu, Professor, Director, DST/NRF Flagship on Critical Thought in

African Humanities, University of the Western Cape

30. Lila Abu-Lughod, Professor, Columbia University

31. Sheldon Pollock, Professor of Sanskrit and South Asian Studies,

Columbia University, New York

32. Hamid Dabashi, Professor, Columbia University, New York

33. Firdous Azim, Department of English and Humanities, BRAC University,

Dhaka, Bangladesh

34. Kama Maclean, Associate Professor, South Asian and World History, School of

Humanities and Languages, UNSW Australia

35. Ashwin, Independent Researcher, based in Azim Premji University, Bangalore

36. V. J. Varghese, Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of

37. José Emilio Burucúa, Fellow member of the Institut d'Études Avancées,

38. Danai Mupotsa, Lecturer, African Literature, University of the Witwatersrand,

39. Vashna Jagarnath, Senior Lecturer, History Department, Rhodes University,

Grahamstown, South Africa

40. Thiven Reddy, Department of Political Studies, University of Cape Town

41. Ruchi Chaturvedi, Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Cape

Town, South Africa

42. Patrick Olivelle, Professor, University of Texas at Austin, USA

43. Sambuddha Sen, Professor, Shiv Nadar University

44. Hina Saiyada, Filmmaker, Mumbai

45. Asanda Benya, University of Cape Town, Dept of Sociology, South Africa

46. Ravindran Sriramachandran, Dept. of Anthropology/ Sociology, Ashoka

47. Koni Benson, University of Cape Town

48. Vedita Cowaloosur, Postdoc Fellow at Stellenbosch University, South Africa

49. Enocent Msindo, Associate Professor of History, Rhodes University

Grahamstown, South Africa

50. Naledi Nomalanga Mkhize, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

51. Shari Daya, University of Cape Town, South Africa

52. Heidi Grunebaum, Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western

Cape, South Africa.

53. Francis Cody, Associate Professor Anthropology and Asian Institute,

University of Toronto

54. Jinee Lokaneeta, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and

International Relations, Drew University, United States of America

55. Tamara Shefer, Professor, Women's and Gender Studies, Faculty of Arts,

University of the Western Cape, South Africa

56. Richard Pithouse, Professor, Rhodes University, South Africa

57. Ayesha Kidwai, Centre for Linguistics, Jawaharlal Nehru University,

58. Mary John, Professor, Centre for Women’s Development Studies, Delhi

59. Ravi S Vasudevan, Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies,

60. Rochelle Pinto, Academic based in Delhi

61. Tarangini Sriraman, Visiting Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing

62. Vipin Kumar, Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing

63. Parthasarathi Muthukaruppan, English and Foreign Languages University,

64. Lawrence Liang, Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore

65. Ujjwal Kumar Singh, Professor, Dept of Political Science, University of Delhi

66. Awadhendra Sharan, Associate Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing

67. Ravikant, Assistant Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies,

68. Udaya Kumar, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University

69. Rita Kothari, Professor, IIT Gandhinagar

70. Rakesh Pandey, Assistant Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing

71. Shilpa Phadke, Assistant Professor, Centre for Media and Cultural Studies,

72. Sunalini Kumar, Visiting Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies,

73. Priyadarshini Vijaisri, Associate Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing

74. Shail Mayaram, Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi

75. Satish Deshpande, Professor, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi

76. Aarti Sethi, Doctoral Researcher, Columbia University, New York

77. Abhay Kumar Dubey, Director, Indian Languages Programme, Centre for the

Study of Developing Societies, De;hi

78. Manoranjan Mohanty, Professor, Centre for Social Development, Delhi

79. Yengkhom Jilangamba, Academic based in Delhi

80. Anupama Roy, Professor, Centre for Political Studies, JNU, Delhi

81. Janaki Nair, Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, JNU, Delhi

82. Rukun Advani, Publisher, Permanent Black, Ranikhet

83. Anuradha Roy, Publisher, Permanent Black, Ranikhet

84. Lyla Mehta, Professor, Institute of Development Studies, UK

85. Michael Neocosmos, Professor and Director UHURU, Rhodes University,

86. Dhammamegha Annie Leatt, Research Associate, Wits Institute for Social and

Economic Research Wits University, Johannesburg

87. Tarun Bhartiya, Filmmaker, Member Thma U Rangli Juki(TUR), Meghalaya

88. Rasigan Maharajh, Chief Director, Institute for Economic Research on

Innovation, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa

89. Polo Moji, Lecturer, French and Francophone Studies, University of the

Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

90. Mathe Ntsekhe, National University of Lesotho

91. Shohini Ghosh, Professor, AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia

92. Sabeena Gadihoke, Associate Professor, AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia

93. Sabina Kidwai. Associate Professor,AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia

94. Moinak Biswas, Professor, Department of Film Studies, Jadavpur University,

95. Pradip K Datta, Professor, Centre for Comparative Politics and Political

Theory, SIS, JNU

96. Kaushik Ghosh, Anthropologist, University of Texas at Austin, USA

97. Sarada Balagopalan, Associate Professor, Childhood Studies, Rutgers

University, USA

98. Maurits van Bever Donker, Centre for Humanities Research, University of the

99. Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya, Professor, Centre for Political Studies, JNU

100. Sanjeeb Mukherjee, Professor, Dept of Political Science, University of

101. Sanjay Kak, Filmmaker, New Delhi

102. Saroj Giri, Dept of Political Science, University of Delhi

103. Sunita Thakur, Journalist, BBC

104. Kelly Gillespie, Head, Department of Anthropology, University of the

Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

105. Aparna Balachandran, Department of History, University of Delhi

106. C.P.Geevan, Independent Researcher, Ahmedabad

107. Ashish Kothari, Pune

108. Sharad Chari, Professor of Anthropology, Witwatersrand University,

109. Abhinav Kumar, Researcher, Azim Premji Foundation

110. Neema Pathak Broome, member Kalpavriksh, Pune

111. Charu Gupta, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of

112. Projit Bihari Mukharji, Assistant Professor, History & Sociology of Science,

University of Pennsylvania

113. Camalita Naicker, PhD Candidate, UHURU, Rhodes University South Africa,

Former Student at JNU

114. Satadru Sen, Professor of History, Queens College & Graduate Center, City

University of New York

115. Noosim Naimasiah, Makerere Institute of Social Research, Kampala, Uganda

116. Alexandra Muller, Gender Health and Justice Research Unit, University of

Cape Town, South Africa

117. Rohan D' Souza, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Asian and African

Area Studies, Kyoto University

118. Jonathan Gil Harris, Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of English,

Ashoka University

119. Geeta Patel, Director, UVA in India Program, Associate Professor, University

120. Anjali Arondekar, Associate Professor, Dept. of Feminist Studies University

of California, Santa Cruz

121. Raka Ray Professor, Department of Sociology, University of California,

122. Maya Krishna Rao, Artiste, Delhi

123. Suvir Kaul, Professor, Department of English, University of Pennsylvania

124. Nathaniel Roberts, Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for the Study of

Religious and Ethnic Diversity

125. David Kazanjian, Professor of English, Program in Comparative Literature

and Literary Theory, University of Pennsylvania

126. Mukul Kesavan, Dept of History, Jamia Millia Islamia

127. Lakshmi Subramanian, Professor of History, Centre for the Study of Social

Sciences, Kolkata

128. Rosinka Chaudhuri, Professor of Cultural Studies, CSSS, Kolkata

129. Rimli Bhattacharya, Senior Fellow in Cultural Studies, CSSS, Kolkata

130. Ritajyoti Bandyopadhyay, Assistant Professor of Sociology, CSSS, Kolkata

131. Kiran Kesavamurthy, Assistant Professor of Cultural Studies, CSSS, Kolkata

132. Prachi Deshpande, Associate Professor of History, CSSS, Kolkata

133. Suren Pillay, Associate Professor, Center for Humanities Research

University of the Western Cape, South Africa

134. Ranjani Mazumdar, Professor, School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU

135. Ravi Sundaram, Professor, CSDS, Delhi

136. Shirin M. Rai, Professor, Department of Politics and International Studies,

University of Warwick

137. Madhusree Mukherjee, Writer

138. Aniket Alam, Executive Editor, Economic and Political Weekly

139. Alice Morris, Director, PeopleCan Services, Ahmedabad