Prominent American historian Audrey Truschke, who has authored the controversial book, "Aurganzeb: The Man and the Myth", has been forced to cancel her lecture in Hyderabad. This is what she wrote on her Facebook timeline:
"I regret to say that my lecture in Hyderabad scheduled for August 11 --titled "Unpopular Stories: Narrating the Indo-Islamic Past and Navigating Present-day Prejudices"-- has been cancelled. The organizers took this decision after being informed by the Hyderabad police that several individuals had written letters protesting my appearance. I saw only one such letter, and it was from an individual with self-admitted connections to the RSS, BJP and BJPM.
"I was to speak to Hyderabad on several areas of my academic research, including Mughal history and Sanskrit literature. I was especially looking forward to talking with Hyderabadis about Aurangzeb's brutal assaults on sultanates in the Deccan in the 1680s and debates concerning what brought about the end of Indian Buddhism in the early second millennium CE. I deeply regret that my presentation and the subsequent exchange of ideas will not occur.
"Today is a sad day for the pursuit of knowledge and academic freedom, and it is a happy day for proponents of the Hindu Rashtra."
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