[INDOLOGY] The WSC Forum on Gender and Caste

[adheesh sathaye]

Dear Colleagues:

(cc: Profs. Kaushal Panwar, Ananya Vajpeyi, Mandakranta Bose, Shrinivasa Varakhedi) 

As the prinicipal organizer responsible for the WSC Forum that has come under scrutiny on this email list, I would like to offer some thoughts and explanations, especially to those who did not attend the event or the WSC. I had till now resisted responding in public, feeling that it would be premature and also inappropriate to do so while I am still serving as the Lead Organizer of the 17th WSC, given that our books are not yet closed. But I do feel it’s important for me to say something now. 

a) Some Background: 
 
First, I would like to thank the 500+ delegates who attended the 17th World Sanskrit Conference, held in Vancouver, July 9-13, 2018, and our committee is grateful to receive words of positive support and feedback from a number of attendees. It was humbling to be able to work with a fabulous team of volunteers, students, and colleagues, who, with great care, welcomed this large gathering of international Sanskritists to our fair city and university for those five days in July. We again would like to offer our sincere gratitude to the plenary speakers, panelists, performers, and scholarly delegates who attended, as well as our various sponsors, donors, partners, and benefactors. There were, to be sure, several issues that arose during the WSC, especially so during the Forum on Gender and Caste. As we address them, I hope that we do not reduce the complex experiences of the conference as a whole to what happened at the Forum event. 

Another important detail that many people may not realize is that the IASS (International Association of Sanskrit Studies) and the World Sanskrit Conference (WSC) are in reality two separate enterprises. The IASS awards the WSC venues to a particular organization, and provides a set of basic guidelines and suggestions for how to run it. But the IASS does not control the programming or format of the WSCs, or provide technical or material support. Each triennial WSC is built from the ground up by local organizing committee, and it is this local committee, not the IASS Board, who chooses whom to invite or not invite as Guests of Honour, as plenary speakers, as cultural performers, donors and sponsors, etc. I currently serve the Chair of the Committee for the 17th WSC, while Prof. McComas Taylor of ANU will now to serve as the Chair of the Committee for the 18th. 

The IASS Board is currently deliberating on what has been said and has drafted a formal response on behalf of the association. In the meantime, I have requested them to permit me to make a personal statement, as the prinicipal organizer who was responsible for the planning and inclusion of the Forum at the 17th WSC, so that I may explain what happened, from my perspective. I also must emphasize that am NOT speaking here in my capacity as the Chair of the Local Organizing Committee for the 17th WSC, as we have not, in the past month, had the opportunity for a meeting to discuss this matter or come to a consensus. 

b) What Happened at the Forum?

So far we have received two different critical reviews of the Forum. Initially there was a note from Prof. Srinivasa Varakhedi on July 17, 2018, sent as a private email to the WSC Secretariat and the IASS President, but then also posted publicly on the Bhāratīyavidvatpariṣat email list (https://groups.google.com/d/msg/bvparishat/cbthNAM0jNc/aWQOxuI4BgAJ <https://groups.google.com/d/msg/bvparishat/cbthNAM0jNc/aWQOxuI4BgAJ>). More recent are the communications from Prof. Ananya Vajpeyi both to the Hindu newspaper (https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/how-to-move-a-mountain/article24682600.ece <https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/how-to-move-a-mountain/article24682600.ece>) and here on the Indology list (in an email dated August 14, 2018). They come from two very different perspectives, and I ask you to read them for yourselves.

In acknowledging, publicly, these criticisms, I also accept full responsibility for the poor planning of this event, which ultimately allowed it to spiral out of control. 

Like others, I found the hooliganistic behaviour of some members of the audience to have been shocking, inexcusable, and deeply disturbing. As I did at the event itself, I stand in support of Professors Kaushal Panwar, Ananya Vajpeyi, and Mandakranta Bose, and appreciate the courage and grace with which each of them faced the quickly-deteriorating environment of that evening. I am moved by Prof. Vajpeyi’s articulation of why this was such a traumatic experience not just for herself, but more crucially, for Prof. Panwar.  

At the same time, I cannot personally ignore the fact that there were a series of mistakes and miscalculations in the planning and structure of the event that fostered this hostile atmosphere, and for that I can only point the finger at myself—there were vulnerable parties involved and I should have worked harder to facilitate the event in such a way as to prevent what happened from happening. I tried, but obviously I didn’t try hard enough, and the result was, as Dr. Vajpeyi put it, a debacle for everyone involved. I had apologized to each of the participants privately at the conference, but I would hereby also like to issue a public apology, in my capacity as the prinicipal organizer of the Forum on Gender and Caste in Sanskrit Studies at the 17th World Sanskrit Conference.

What happened to you was not right, you did not deserve this kind of treatment, and I am sorry that we put you in a situation that allowed it to happen. 

In a spirit of equanimity, I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the letter of Prof. Varakhedi (mentioned above) that has been critical of the content of the Forum itself. I am appreciative of the spirit of his remarks, and thank him for the critical feedback; however, as the one who had initially proposed the event, I would like to clarify that the basic aim of the forum (as I had proposed it) was not political, and certainly had no anti-Indian intent. I regret if it has been interpreted as such. On the contrary, the idea was to host a positive and inclusivist space at the WSC where we might listen to the personal stories of women, and especially one from a socially underprivileged background, who have courageously led professional careers in Sanskrit studies in the face of various challenges and stigmas in their lives. Such spaces are regularly organized at campuses and professional academic meetings across North America. Now this clearly did not succeed at the WSC, and I accept responsibility for this failure. 

In saying this, however, I do not mean to excuse the disrespectful and aggressive behaviour that was exhibited on that evening by members of the audience. It is a basic assumption of a professional academic community that decorum, civility, and respect ought to be maintained at public events, and that all delegates, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, religion, nationality, etc., should feel comfortable to articulate their opinions without fear of being bullied. The behaviour displayed at the WSC that night was a travesty, and it should not be tolerated. However, finding myself in a place of privilege and power in comparison to the women who were most impacted by what happened, I feel it necessary that I acknowledge and apologize for my own role in letting it happen. 

c) Where Do We Go from Here? 

I struggle to write these words, out of a fear that they may be insensitive or unhelpful to those who have been traumatized by what happened. For those of us who desire a more respectful, inclusive, and diverse professional society of international scholars engaged in the study of Sanskrit and premodern South Asia, this perhaps represents a challenge to be more mindful and self-reflective in how we conduct ourselves, how we organize events, how we write, how we speak to, and learn from, one another. For the IASS, this will be a moment to offer a more concrete policy outlining its expectations of scholarly decorum and to clarify its role within, and vision for, World Sanskrit Conferences in the future. As Dr. Vajpeyi asks us, it is a time to search our souls and see what we find. As we do so, it is my sincere hope that we can help each other find pathways that might lead us away from acrimony and blame, and towards spaces of trust, mutual respect, and amity—pathways that may allow us to navigate around those dark mountains that we struggle to move.

With all best wishes,

—
Adheesh Sathaye
University of British Columbia






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