Waduds lecture on Islam: Gender and Reform cancelled by Madras University on chennai police instruction

Updated on: Thursday, August 01, 2013

Writers, academics and filmmakers on Wednesday came together to issue a statement condemning the University of Madras's act of cancelling a lecture by eminent Islamic scholar AminaWadud.

Wadud's lecture on 'Islam: Gender and Reform,' which was scheduled to be held at the university's JBAS Centre for Islamic Studies for Monday, was called off after the Chennai police asked the university to cancel it citing possible threats from some Muslim groups.

All efforts by the Centre for Islamic Studies, the organisers of the program, to persuade the authorities and vice-chancellor R Thandavan to defend the university's right to encourage debate and dialogue proved to be of no avail.

In their statement, the writers, academics and filmmakers termed it as a 'shocking and spineless capitulation' by the vice-chancellor. "A vice-chancellor ought to have outstanding qualities - of vision, intellectual honesty, courage, openness to different points of view and an unwavering commitment to academic freedom and the freedom of expression," said the statement.

They asked the university to invite the scholar again to deliver a series of lectures.

The statement added, "If the current police administration cannot uphold the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech anymore, it should consider a change of profession."

Those who signed the statement include writer V Geetha, journalist Nityanand Jayaraman, academic Karen Coelho, Prof Ajith Menon of Madras Institute of Development Studies, filmmaker R R Srinivasan, columnist Sadanand Menon and writer A Marx.

Waduds lecture on Islam: Gender and Reform cancelled by Madras University on chennai police instruction

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