[INDOLOGY] Further Clarifications regarding the WSC Forum

[Audrey Truschke]

Dear All,

This is a formal retraction of Dr. Sathaye’s earlier note. It’s shameful. It apologizes to the offenders, not the maligned. It deflects attention from the real issues. It is part of the problem identified by Dr. Vajpeyi. If anyone needed further proof of how much hateful Hindutva sentiments and pressures are overtaking our discipline, look no further.

It seems to me that the World Sanskrit Conference is a lost cause at this point. The bigger issue, however, is seeing the moral and ethical compromises being made by Indologists in emails such as this. I’m horrified and, frankly, embarrassed to see such things.

For those interested in ongoing coverage of the event that sparked what’s become a show of horrors and how our discipline looks to the outside world - https://www.firstpost.com/life/world-sanskrit-conference-shows-that-sanskritic-scholarship-in-india-remains-afraid-of-gender-and-caste-4895051.html

Audrey

Audrey Truschke
Assistant Professor
Department of History
Rutgers University-Newark

> On Aug 24, 2018, at 12:17 AM, adheesh sathaye via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
> 
> Dear Colleagues:
> 
> I would like to make a few points of clarification regarding my previous post on the WSC Forum on Gender and Caste: (see http://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology_list.indology.info/2018-August/142744.html). I write again only in my capacity as the organizer of the Gender and Caste Forum. I do *not* speak on behalf of the WSC Organizing Committee, nor the IASS, but just as myself. 
> 
> 1.There have been requests that the WSC should release footage of the event. However,
> (a) I can clarify that the WSC team did not record any events during the conference, except those of the inaugural day. So unfortunately, we don’t have any tape to release. 
> (b) Many of us noticed a fellow with a tripod in the front row recording the event. This person was not a member of our team, nor a registered WSC delegate, and is unknown to me. Other spectators may also have taken videos and uploaded them to the internet. 
> 
> 2. In my previous post, I had used the word ‘hooliganistic’ to describe the ways of speaking that I witnessed by some people in the audience. After further self-reflection, and after reading the objections against it, I agree that this word was inappropriate to use, and that it contains accusatory overtones that I did not intend to make. I regret using this extreme term to describe the shouting that I witnessed, instead of a more straightforward word. I also would like to note that in my recollection, several scholars spoke their remarks that evening without shouting, while others waited patiently for their turn to speak. I humbly ask those who may have felt wrongfully accused by my improper use of this word to allow for its retraction.
> 
> Other statements of mine might also sound like blanket accusations against large parts of the audience. However, I would like to clarify that this was not my intention. My main objective in writing my response was to acknowledge, and apologize for, my own failure as the organizer in preventing and mediating the conflicts that occurred at the Forum. I did not intend to make public pronouncements about who shouted or why they did so.  
> 
> To be clear: as the organizer of the Forum, and also as the Lead Organizer of the WSC, I abstain from making public accusations against any specific individuals or groups.
> 
> 3. I would like to clarify that my apology extends also to everyone who was negatively impacted by the event—including those in the audience, who, after all, were also our invited guests to Vancouver. I realize that I did not state this explicitly in my previous post, so please allow me do so here:
> 
> I apologize for any negative impact felt by the audience, as well as the speakers, due to the mismanaged Forum on Gender and Caste at the 17th WSC. Our Committee did not wish to create distress for any of our respected guests, on stage or in the audience, and I should have worked harder to ensure that such a situation did not occur. 
> 
> Many people have now written about the details of what happened. I appreciate hearing your points of view, and I thank you all for taking the time to offer your personal perspectives on what happened. I don’t dispute your accounts, and I respect your right to express them. All of the accounts of the event—including Dr. Vajpeyi’s—point to serious problems in its initial planning, management, facilitation, and communication that produced a hostile environment. These are areas that I was responsible for, as the organizer. I accept your criticism, I will take these difficult lessons to heart, and will apply them in a positive way toward the future. 
> 
> 4. Clarification of funding: 
> (a) The 17th WSC did not receive any monetary support from the Government of India. The travel of the Nepathya troupe was supported by ICCR and the inaugural banquet was hosted by the Hon. Minister, HRD, Shri Prakash Javadekar.
> (b) Funding for the Gender/Caste Forum was sought from local sources *after* I had proposed the idea and it had been approved by the WSC Organizing Committee. Registration fees were not used to fund the event, and our donors did not make any demands on its content or format. 
> 
> I hope this note might clarify some matters and ease some concerns. I hesitate to write on this matter again in public, but I will be happy to communicate with anyone further privately, if desired. And I do hope that, in all other aspects, the 17th WSC was an inspiring, congenial, and productive gathering for all 500+ delegates who visited us in Vancouver. We had tried our best to make it so.
> 
> With all best wishes,
> 
> —
> Adheesh Sathaye
> University of British Columbia
> 
> 
> 
> 
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