Bhopal: A two-day event organised by Youth Thinkers Forum — a Bhopal-based organisation — at the National Law Institute University (NLIU) campus in the city has sparked outrage for “Islamophobic” and hateful statements against minorities.
The ‘Youth Thinkers Conclave’ — which was held from 30 September to 1 October and was inaugurated by Union minister Bhupender Yadav — included discussions on topics such as ‘Decoding Manufactured Narratives’, ‘The Bharatiya Way: Economy and Governance’, ‘Unravelling Wokeism: Examining the DNA of Social Activism’, and ‘Timeless Wisdom of Bharat’.
Posters put up at the venue likened prominent intellectuals, writers and politicians to the ten heads of Ravan — the mythological demon king from Hindu epic Ramayana. These included MP Shashi Tharoor and historians Ramachandra Guha, Irfan Habib and Romila Thapar.
The posters were later reportedly removed after they went viral.
One of the speakers at the conclave was Almosow Free, who identifies himself as an ex-Muslim scholar of comparative religion.
Free sought to allege that some qawwalis attempted to belittle Hindu sites of pilgrimage.
Citing the lyrics “Gokul dekha, Mathura dekha, tumsa naa koi dekha Nizamuddin (have seen Gokul, Mathura, haven’t seen anything like Nizamuddin),” he asked why the comparison could not have been with Mecca or Medina — the holy cities of Islam — instead.
He also cited Amir Khusrau’s famous composition “Chhaap tilak” — a popular Sufi song with many renditions — and projected its lyrics as objectionable. The song, dedicated to the Almighty, goes “Chhaap tilak sab chheeni, mose naina milaike (You robbed me of my identity with one glance)”. Free asked why the lyrics speak of the “tilak”, a Hindu symbol, being taken away, instead of a cap and beard, which are associated with Muslims.
“If this is your Sufism?” he said. “If Rumi wrote a nice poem, it does not mean that Sufism is good.”
According to NLIU students, they were informed about the topic and speakers, and had raised their concerns over discussion topics such as ‘From Dogma to Dharma: Hindu View of Prophetic Monotheism’, as well as about the panel and the involvement of speakers who have had a history of “inciteful speech”.
“While the information should have been sufficient to cancel the event; instead, only the topic of discussion was changed, while the organisers and the panel of speakers remained the same,” the students stated in a letter condemning the event issued on 30 September. ThePrint has a copy of the letter.
NLIU Vice-Chancellor (V-C) Professor Surya Prakash said “he did not endorse the views or the discussions that took place at the event”.
Speaking to ThePrint Monday, he said that he had given permission for the event as it was sought by a former NLIU student, and that similar events had been held at other universities.
“I visited the event and left after half-an-hour and did not know what was the discussion that followed. It is extremely unfortunate, I had not thought in my wildest imagination that it would go in this way,” he said.
“We, as a central university, do not endorse the views or the discussions that took place. We had simply given a place to hold the session,” he added.
Ashutosh Thakur, founding director of Youth Thinkers Forum (YTF), said everything the speakers addressed was “fact”. Speaking to The Print, Thakur said there were only a handful of students who objected to it, while the others were OK with it.
“All our speakers are scholars and they are talking about facts and if there are students objecting to their views, they [should] issue rebuttals through academia and contradict them on facts. Simply terming them hatemongers is not the way,” he said.
‘Subjective term’
Thakur described the five-year-old Youth Thinkers Forum as being “committed to elevating the quality of public discourse on areas of national importance. He said the organisation has been holding such events at various government and private institutes across the state, for those aged between 18 and 35 years of age.
When asked on what basis was Amoslow Free considered an expert on comparative philosophy, Thakur said, “Who is an intellectual is a very subjective term, not all scholars are as well known, but Amoslow Free is an expert in his field and was talking on facts, much like all the people who had come.”
Referring to the poster, Thakur said, “It is based on a book in which there are academicians who have critiqued the work of these historians and those posters were based on that book. But most people also don’t know that there is such a book.”
A letter to the V-C
After the first day of the event, the core committee of the Students Bar Association at NLIU Bhopal wrote an email to the V-C, condemning the conclave and requesting immediate action.
In the email, the students body stated, “The YTF event, which was initially proposed as an ‘academic event’, has raised serious apprehension among us. It appears that the event has deviated from its academic focus and is now being used as a platform for dissemination of religious propaganda.”
“The frequent chanting of religious slogans within the convention centre has caused distress amongst our fellow students. It is disheartening to see our university being used for purposes that are far removed from its primary objective of education,” the email added.
Asked why the programme was not cancelled, the V-C said, “I was very busy on 26 September and students had come to me with the problem with the posters and banners, which were removed. After that it was dealt with by the dean of student welfare.”
“We will be careful in giving space to events in the future,” he added.
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Session on ‘wokeism’
On the first day, during one of the sessions, Vaibhav Chaturvedi, an “academic member” of YTF, explained that the organisation had been focusing on wokeism, and had discussed eight books on the “anatomy of protest culture” last year. He said this year they were again discussing wokeism under the title ‘Unravelling Wokesim’.
During the session, Ram Sharma, director of the Centre for Indic Studies, Indus University Ahmedabad, cited the Sabarimala case — the demand for women of all ages to be allowed entry into the sanctum — as an example of “radical feminism”, which was described as a part of wokeism.
Sharma then spoke about the campaigns aimed at wider recognition for transgenders, saying wokeism was not related to transgenders, but had gained prominence with the movement.
“The famous opinion given out by the honourable Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud was so strange to hear when it came out,” said Sharma, referring to the CJI’s statement that there was no absolute concept of man and woman at all.
The students alleged that the event was offensive and hurtful to the LGBTQ community, religious minorities and other members of the student community.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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