10/14/2016

ReadWiderstandtheMagazineBannedbyPondicherryUniversityIndianCulturalForum

Read Widerstand the Magazine Banned by

Pondicherry University
Souradeep Roy

Acche Din for higher educational institutions in India have only increased, and adding to the list of
institutions which have already seen wonderful days is Pondicherry University. The university made
news three days ago when 4000 copies of the annual magazine Widerstand was con scated. The
administration of the university buckled under the pressure of the Akhil Bhartiya VidyarthiParishad
(ABVP) the student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The ABVP burnt copies of the
magazine, presumably while chanting Bharat Mata ki Jai, as they did in a seminar in Delhi University
three months ago.
But rst things rst. What is Widerstand and why did the authorities decide to con scate the
distribution of the magazine? Widerstand is published by the Students' Council of Pondicherry
University. The Students Council is an elected body of student repressentatives held each year. The
elections for the present Council was held in November 2015, and a conglomerate of students from the
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10/14/2016

ReadWiderstandtheMagazineBannedbyPondicherryUniversityIndianCulturalForum

Student Federation of India (SFI) and Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) won the election. As has
often been pointed out in other campuses as well, the Left and Ambedkarite movements have
combined to form a joint platform of resistance against the ABVP.
So when a bunch of students burns copies of the magazine brought out by a democratically elected
body, it is expected of the authorities to stand by the elected body,right? Wrong. The administration
instead issued a show cause notice to the editor of the magazine and con scated the distribution of the
magazine. Now, stopping a book or magazine from public circulation is a way of enforcing a ban on the
book, right? Wrong. College authorities have claimed that they have not banned the magazine. Instead,
they have formed an internal committee to look into the content of the book. This is quite hilarious,
since the Vice Chancellor, Professor Anisa Basheer Khan, had written a melli uous congratulatory
note to the students, perhaps written without reading the magazine:
I am happy to know that Students Council of Pondicherry University is bringing out the
Students Council Literary Magazine of 2015-16. I appreciate their efforts in bringing out
the journal to encourage creative writing by reading and evaluating ction, poetry and
creative non- ction by students of the University with a hands-on education in literary
publishing.
I wish the Literary Magazine of 2015-16 by the Students Council a great success. (sic)
I spoke to Nidhin Nath, a magazine committee member, who told me that the Dean of Students
Welfare, Prof. P Moorthy (also the Chief Editor of the magazine), wanted the word dalit to be
removed prior to its publication. The students did not agree and the studenteditor, Angali G.,wrotein
her editorial, A year has passed by where the democratic nation has turned in to a fascist one where
the Dalits are burned alive and the educational institutions were saffronised. Yesterday, the poor Dean
Professor Mohanty was relieved of his post, according to a notice signed by the Registrar of the
university. What all this suggests is the recurrence of a phenomenon: the interference of the
government in educational institutions. In this case, apart from the MHRD, the Lieutenant Governor of
Puducherry, Kiran Bedi, has also asked for clari cations from the university. Even after a host of
academics from several institutions have cried themselves hoarse on the need for freedom of speech in
the university,In
and
the need for autonomy in the university space, we have goneback to square one.
Focus
Speak On, We Are With You!
Statement from the Indian Writers
Forum
article 19 free speech writers artists

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Terror of Law: The Gujarat Protection of

Internal Security Act (GPISA)

So what is there in Widerstand that even a former IPS of cer seems to be wary of it? The range of
articles in the magazine is quite impressive. From Pramod Meenas article on educational institutions
turning
into
saffron
concentration

camps, to Jishnu Ks piece on Karl Marx and Jenny Von
Westphalen married life, the magazine also has an assemblage of other genres, with some brilliant
designs and illustrations. Widerstand draws inspiration from a German publication of the same name
that ran from 1926 to 1934 in and was banned under Nazi rule. Perhaps it is not surprising that we now
see a direct link between the Nazis of those days and the Hindutvavadis of today.The Widerstand of
2015 has met the same fate as the Widerstand of the 1920s.
Meanwhile, in a moving piece on the burning of books, poet K Satchidanandan also writes on book
burning turningobsolete, after discussing Ray Bradburys novel, Fahrenheit 451:
Chalo Udupi:
Foodreading
of Our Choice,
Land issome time back, I thought, maybe today men would not have to
While
the novel
Our
Right
take all the trouble; the books would have survived in other forms, in an internet library, as

downloadable e-books, as bits quoted in blogs, as CDs and DVDs all of which have made
banning books dif cult and burning books obsolete if not useless.
Quite some time has passed since 1953 the date of the publication of Farenheit 451.In our bid to keep
reading and debate from turning obsolete, we make Widerstand available for everyone to distribute
and discuss.

In Focus

Click here to read the magazine online.

Speak On, We Are With You!

Statement from the Indian Writers
WetoCondemn
Attacks
on IPTA
in trust that belongs to all of us.
Donate
the Indianthe
Writers'
Forum,
a public
Forum
Indore
article 19 free speech writers artists

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10/14/2016

ReadWiderstandtheMagazineBannedbyPondicherryUniversityIndianCulturalForum

Terror of Law: The Gujarat Protection of

Read more...
Internal Security Act (GPISA)

Chalo Udupi: Food of Our Choice, Land is

Our Right

In Focus
Speak On, We Are With You!
Statement from the Indian Writers
We Condemn the Attacks on IPTA in
Forum
Indore
article 19 free speech writers artists

http://indianculturalforum.in/2016/08/06/readwiderstandthemagazinebannedbypondicherryuniversity/

4/5

10/14/2016

ReadWiderstandtheMagazineBannedbyPondicherryUniversityIndianCulturalForum

Terror of Law: The Gujarat Protection of

Read more...
Internal Security Act (GPISA)

Chalo Udupi: Food of Our Choice, Land is

Our Right

In Focus
Speak On, We Are With You!
Statement from the Indian Writers
We Condemn the Attacks on IPTA in
Forum
Indore
article 19 free speech writers artists

http://indianculturalforum.in/2016/08/06/readwiderstandthemagazinebannedbypondicherryuniversity/

5/5