Skip to main content

Mahashwata Devi's "Draupadi" stopped from being dramatized: How bullying censorship is infringing the classroom

Mahashweta Devi
By Snehasata Manav*
Today, Indian universities and academia are witnessing an unprecedented and outspoken threat towards the very idea of their existence. Universities are the spaces where knowledge is expected to be generated; where even the most eccentric ideas are supposed to be discussed and debated; where difficult questions are desired to be raised and answered.
But, if we try to analyze the situation of Indian universities at the present moment, we will find that they are being attacked, questioned, and prosecuted for the very reasons of their existence.
Either it is the case of Prof Sudha Chaudhary at Mohan Lal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, Rajasthan where she was hounded for inviting Prof Vohra to deliver a lecture on Hinduism, or of Dr Manoj Kumar and Dr Snehsata (myself) who were strictly warned for staging a play based on Mahasweta Devi's short story “Draupadi”, or of Dr Rajashree Ranawat at JNVU, Jodhpur, who was suspended for inviting Prof Nivedita Menon for a lecture, or of a teacher at the Central University of Jharkhand who was suspended because he had allegedly invited a teacher from JNU or of the attack at Ramjas College, Delhi University by ABVP – each incident is a painful experience for the academia.
The worst part of this censorship is that it has not only shrunk the limited space which was available to the students and teachers but also put the inner censor in their minds. When a young teacher joins a university, she remains very eager to perform her duties as a teacher and contributes in building a free and vibrant atmosphere in the society.
But, if the teacher is warned, bullied, and punished for the same, next time, instead of eagerness and joy, there would be confusion and suspicion in her mind. In the same way, student's curiosities are also nipped in the buds. They are threatened for being critical and creative. Hence, this censorship not only thwarts academic freedom but has the capacity to engulf the very conditions in which academic environment can be bloomed freely and fully.
Academic freedom is often taken as a synonym for freedom of expression. Freedom of expression appears more personal, related to expression of one's personal opinions. But more than a right to express views, academic freedom lies at the very core of the job of the academician.
It is the duty of the teacher to acquaint the students with the various facets of a problem (however, those facets are considered as objectionable and intolerable by the dominant, powerful and authoritative elements). She should try to break the confines of pre-defined and structured notions, and should lay bare various realities submerged under the popular, well-structured, and well-defined reality.
However, no ideological framework should be imposed on the students, and the teacher should respect the independent judgment of the students and let them decide for themselves. For almost always, the authoritative and fascist tendencies make this argument that their actions are in the interest of the nation and society.
But, they forget that they don't have any right to decide for the society. Society has its own logic and reason and it can make its own judgments. Here, I want to share a personal incident to qualify the argument that common masses have their own intelligence.
Recently, my Mother and Aunty (both are illiterate who never got the chance to get education) happened to visit our university. We showed them the new academic blocks and they were overwhelmed by the grandeur of the place. While moving through the campus they were talking to each other and I was listening to them. The most striking thing in their conversation was their ideas about university and knowledge.
In their local dialect, they easily made it clear that education imparts knowledge and knowledge liberates mind. They remarked that in the beautiful and big buildings of the university, beautiful and fearless minds were laboriously engaged in generating great knowledge. They departed from us by reminding us our duty as a teacher and simply said, “Teach in the best way.” They had great expectations not only from me but from the very idea of university.
Ironically, their whole conversation took me a few days back. Mahasweta Devi's Breast Stories is the part of our syllabus in the Literature and Gender paper and I am teaching that paper in the 4 semester of MA English. We had gone through the story “Draupadi” and for the better understanding of the story and its various issues; we decided to watch the play “Draupadi” in the classroom.
But, as soon as we started the play, our HOD asked me to come outside and questioned about the screening of the play. He literally pleaded me to stop the screening. I witnessed fear in his eyes. I questioned his approach but finally had to stop the play. Then I realized that even the so-called autonomous classroom was not my own.
Travelling through the seminars and conferences, the bullying censorship had infringed my classroom, my syllabus, my content, and my study material. And I failed in protecting my academic space in the face of insensitive administration.
I wanted to tell all this to my Mother and Aunt. I wanted to tell them that their imagined 'beautiful minds' are slowly and gradually being terrorized and hampered by dirty fascist tendencies. I wanted to alarm them that instead of open debates and healthy discussions, fear and silence were prevailing in those beautiful spaces.
But I didn't say anything to them. How could I terrify and scare those fearless expectations? I couldn't, because these selfless expectations are the only hopes which would be able to revive fearlessness and confidence in the confused minds.
---
*Department of English, Central University of Haryana. Source: PUCL Bulletin, April 2017

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Sections of BSF, BGB personnel 'directly or indirectly' involved in cross border smuggling

By Kirity Roy*  The Border Security Force (BSF) of India and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of Bangladesh met for 54th Director General level meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5th to 9th March, 2024 to discuss on minimizing killings at border area, illegal intrusion, trafficking of drugs and other narcotics, smuggling of arms and ammunitions and other crimes at bordering areas. Further, the summit had an agenda to discuss on overall development in 150 yards area at both sides of the border and design an activity plan for the same.