[Reader-list] Fw: [Citizen-Mumbai] Onlinepetition- Against the Vice-Chancellor’s Decision to Drop Such A Long Journey from the SYBA English Syllabus of Mumbai University

[kabi cubby sherman]

please sign petition and circulate widely
kabi

 
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----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Kamayani <kamayni at gmail.com>
To: free-binayaksen <free-binayaksen at googlegroups.com>; Mumbai For 
<citizen-mumbai at googlegroups.com>; jsa-mumbai <jsa-mumbai at googlegroups.com>; 
mihre <MIHRE at googlegroups.com>
Sent: Mon, 11 October, 2010 12:54:34 AM
Subject: [Citizen-Mumbai] Onlinepetition- Against the Vice-Chancellor’s Decision 
to Drop Such A Long Journey from the SYBA English Syllabus of Mumbai University

To:  Governor of Maharashtra (Chancellor of the University of Mumbai)
Dear Friends, 

Please find included in this email is a letter that has been drafted to express 
dissent with the manner in which the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mumbai 
has flouted administrative procedures and bypassed academic bodies to omit a 
novel from the syllabus of English Literature for SYBA in response to pressure 
from a political group. 

It is addressed to the Governor of Maharashtra, who is the Chancellor of the 
University and copies will be marked to the VC and to the Chairman of the 
University Grants Commission. 

If you strongly feel that voices of dissent need to emerge against the shrinking 
democratic spaces within the university and the city of Mumbai in general, then 
please lend your support by endorsing the statement and signing the letter, and 
replying to the person who has sent you the email so that signatures can be 
collated. 

Please feel free to forward this to friends and colleagues who will be 
interested, and get back to me when you get signatures from them, latest by 
Wednesday the 13th of October, 2010. 


Sincerely, 
Shashank 



The letter: 



To, 

The Governor of Maharashtra, 
Address 


Cc: 

The Vice Chancellor, 
University of Mumbai, 
Address 

The Chairman of the University Grants Commission, 
Address 



Subject: Statement of Opposition Against the Vice-Chancellor’s Decision to Drop 
Such A Long Journey from the SYBA English Syllabus of Mumbai University 



We, the undersigned condemn the undemocratic manner in which Rohintion Mistry’s 
novel Such A Long Journey has been omitted from the Second Year Bachelor of Arts 
(SYBA) English Literature syllabus of the University of Mumbai. 



We are disturbed and alarmed by the manner in which the Vice-Chancellor of the 
University, Dr. Rajan Welukar, bowed down to the demands of the Bharatiya 
Vidyarthi Sena (the student wing of the Shiv Sena) and had the novel dropped 
from the syllabus overnight, purely on account of the group’s displeasure with 
“anti Shiv Sena passages”; “derogatory references” to Mumbai’s dabbawalas, the 
Marathi Manoos and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru; and “extremely obscene and vulgar 
language in its’ text”. 



While we do not deny that the BVS and its’ supporters have every right to be 
outraged by the contents of the novel, we strongly oppose the means which they 
have chosen to express their dissent, which includes burning copies of the book 
and the issuing of ultimatums not only for the VC to omit the text from the 
syllabus within 24 hours, but also to exclude the professors who included to 
text in the syllabus from any university work in the future. Furthermore, being 
keenly aware of the immense bureaucracy involved in the decision-making 
processes of the University, we question the nature of the administrative 
process which led to the book being dropped from the syllabus and demand that 
the details of the said proceedings be made public. 



Lastly, in the interest of upholding the democratic principles enshrined within 
the Indian Constitution, we demand that the novel be reinstated in the syllabus 
and urge the BVS and its’ supporters to initiate healthy and democratic debate 
regarding whether it deserves a place in the syllabus or not. 



Yours sincerely, 


Your name, College/Organisation name, Position/Department/Year, etc.
Sincerely,http://www.petitiononline.com/SYBAban/petition.html
-- 
Adv Kamayani Bali Mahabal
+919820749204
skype-lawyercumactivist

"After a war, the silencing of arms is not enough. Peace means respecting all 
rights. You can’t respect one of them and violate the others. When a society 
doesn’t respect the rights of its citizens, it undermines peace and leads it 
back to war.”
-- Maria Julia Hernandez


www.otherindia.org
www.binayaksen.net
www.phm-india.org
www.phmovement.org
www.ifhhro.org


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