Noted Dalit Scholar and National Spokesperson of the BJP Guru Prakash Paswan was prevented from giving a lecture at the Lady Sri Ram College for Women (LSR) on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti. The online event was organised by the SC-ST cell of the college and Guru Prakash was scheduled to speak on April 14 via google meet.
Can the subaltern speak?
— Guru Prakash Paswan (@IGuruPrakash) April 13, 2022
My experience of #CancelCulture! #AmbedkarJayanti pic.twitter.com/MSB9iQ1UmX
The shocking revelation was made by Paswan himself on his social media accounts. Paswan, who teaches Law at the Patna University as an assistant professor, was about to deliver his lecture on “Ambedkar beyond Constitution. Reportedly, he was informed on Wednesday morning, that his lecture was cancelled owing to his political affiliations. As a National Spokesperson of the BJP, Paswan has been raising issues relating to the Dalits on many national platforms, while he has also co-authored a book “Makers of Modern Dalit History” with Sudarshan Ramabadran.
However, Guru Prakash’s credentials affiliated with the BJP were enough for the leftist hegemonical establishment at Delhi’s premier college to cancel him from delivering a lecture. Ironically, his lecture on Babasaheb Ambedkar was organised by the SC-ST cell of LSR itself. Paswan has written, ” An institution can’t be an Eco chamber. As a teaching faculty, this saddens me, even more, when students close their horizons!”
He goes on to write on his Twitter, “Cultivation of mind should be the ultimate aim of human existence”, said Babasaheb Ambedkar. I come from a culture that believes in ‘आ नो भद्राः क्रतवो यन्तु विश्वतः’, ‘Let noble thoughts come to me from all sides’. Sadly, what we see today is binaries, projecting one’s ideas upon the other, without the effort to engage, to know, debate and respect the other point of view.”
He further notes, “Debate and discussion is the essence of democracy. At a time when we celebrate 75 years of our independence, one thing that we ought to learn from the makers of our constitution is their ability to listen, absorb and respect other viewpoints. Babasaheb represented those values!”
Prof Paswan had already prepared his presentation on the contributions of Babasaheb Ambedkar beyond the drafting of the Constitution, while his role as an economist, diplomat and an educationist was to be highlighted. Cancelling his voice is a classic case of stifling the voices of Dalits while stopping diverse expressions coming from the community to prosper.
Many academics, thinkers and intellectuals have come to Guru Prakash Paswan’s support after the news of the cancellation of his lecture came.
An intellectual @IGuruPrakash who belongs to SC community was cancelled by LSR students from delivering lecture on Ambedkar just because he was a BJP Spokesperson.
— Monica Verma (@TrulyMonica) April 14, 2022
Daylight murder of a dalit’s FoE.
What an utter shame!
This is why self-proclaimed ‘Ambedkarites’ of the SFI are actually defenders of the system they pretend to protest against https://t.co/nuizt7baKH
— Kushan Mitra (@kushanmitra) April 14, 2022
Last bastions are crumbling. Left is afraid that their half truths are losing sheen. Don’t worry. How long can they oppress free thought?
— Ratan Sharda 🇮🇳 रतन शारदा (@RatanSharda55) April 14, 2022
The SC-ST cell at Lady Sri Ram college issued an update on Instagram while announcing the cancellation of the event. “With deep regret, the SC/ST cell, LSR is announcing the news that our Ambedkar Jayanti event stands cancelled due to some unavoidable clash of circumstances”
The nation celebrates Ambedkar Jayanti – the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar with much fervour on April 14. However, the cancellation of a Dalit scholar at the reputed Lady Sri Ram College for Women in Delhi speaks glaringly how the far-Left has managed to sabotage actual Dalit voices to further its narrow political agendas.
