Harassment of Ashis Nandy

We write to protest in the strongest possible terms against the charges of criminal offence levied against Ashis Nandy, a political psychologist, sociologist and an internationally renowned public intellectual of the highest calibre. This is the latest case of harassment of intellectuals, journalists, artists, and public figures by anti-democratic forces that claim to speak on behalf of Hindu values sometimes and patriotism at other times, especially in Gujarat, but who have little understanding of either. What is pernicious in this case is that the charge of criminal offence against Nandy levied under Sections 153 (A) and (B) for his newspaper article ‘Blame the Middle Classes’, was brought by the head of the Gujarat branch of the National Council of Civil Liberties (an NGO headquartered in Ahmedabad). The government of Gujarat by giving its permission for filing the case has shown its own complicity in the case.

It seems part of the strategy of the most intolerant sections of Indian society today is to make cynical use of the language of civil liberties to achieve ends that are the opposite of what the aspirations to civil liberties and the struggles over them represent. The harassment of well known intellectuals and artists hides, we fear, the daily intimidation being faced by members of minorities and especially the Muslims in Gujarat. We demand that all the charges against Nandy be immediately dropped. We understand that there is a great deal of anxiety in Gujarat today about its lost honour. It might help to remind ourselves that this honour or “asmita” will not be gained by acts of violence and intimidation but by recovering or discovering the humanity of each other. Gujarat can and will regain its own destiny by remembering the politics of non-violence, as one of its sons by the name of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi once taught the nation and the world.