We are publishing below the following statement in support of and solidarity with Dr Maroona Murmu, signed by more than eighty faculty members of Presidency University, was issued yesterday.
We, the undersigned teachers of Presidency University, Kolkata, are shocked to know about the recent attacks on Dr. Maroona Murmu, Associate Professor of History, Jadavpur University, Kolkata.
Dr. Murmu is an accomplished scholar, an activist, and an intellectual. She is an important voice of our time insofar as she regularly writes and speaks about the rights and plights of the Adivasi community. She is a unique personality to have graced the academia with her rare ability to combine scholarship with activism.
We are aware that the academic space in West Bengal, as elsewhere in the country, is, even today, predominantly Brahminical. Students and teachers hailing from SC, ST, and OBC communities regularly face discrimination due to their caste and tribal backgrounds. The suicides of Chuni Kotal, Rohith Vemula, and Payal Tadvi amply demonstrate the fatal consequences of such discrimination. As various instances from academic institutions from across the country suggest, not only students but teachers from such communities also face victimization regularly. We are also aware that only a tiny percentage of such instances of discrimination make it to the news.
Given the historical exclusion of tribal communities from the mainstream Indian society, Dr. Murmu’s impeccable academic success is a matter of pride for all of us. If an accomplished academician like her is targeted due to her identity, then we shudder to think of the depth of suffering of the bulk of Adivasi people who struggle to be part of our academic space.
We believe that Dr. Murmu, like any other concerned teacher, has absolute freedom in expressing her opinion about holding examinations during the COVID-19 crisis. We also believe that to insult her, on the basis of her said opinion, by referring to her as a “Murmu,” a “Santhal,” a worthless/ meritless idiot (jogyotaheen opodartho), and a “quota professor” is an unforgivable offence.
Although 85% of India’s population belong to the SC, ST, and OBC communities, they have, even today, a rather marginal representation in our academic space. Since caste/class/tribe-based affirmative action is a constitutional policy meant to resolve this problem of under-representation, we believe that an awareness of law and statistics is a prerequisite for any critique of “reservation.” However, those who have been abusing Dr. Murmu on the pretext of “reservation” seem to be uninformed. Given such ignorance, the unconstitutional attacks on her tribal status, we are afraid, are nothing but the manifestation of a deep-rooted Brahminical prejudice against the marginalized and the underprivileged.
We, therefore, strongly and unequivocally condemn the attacks on and trolling of Dr. Maroona Murmu by Ms. Paromita Ghosh of Bethune College and her supporters. We resolve to uphold the rights of the Adivasi community and extend our unconditional support and solidarity to Dr. Murmu in these trying times.
Signatories
- Pradip Basu, Professor, Department of Political Science
- Shanta Dutta, Professor, Department of English
- Sreemati Mukherjee, Professor, Department of Performing Arts
- Nilanjan Dasgupta, Professor, Department of Geology
- Tanuja Majumdar, Professor, Department of Hindi
- Mirdu Rai, Professor, Department of History
- Soumendu Chatterjee, Professor, Department of Geography
- Zakir Husain, Professor, Department of Economics
- Mousumi Dutta, Professor, Department of Economics
- Santi Saren, Assistant Professor, Department of Bengali
- Anjoy Majhi, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry
- Koena Ghosh, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry
- Supravat Bagli, Associate Professor, Department of Economics
- Prithviraj Guha, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics
- Saswatee Mukherjee, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics
- Purna Banerjee, Associate Professor, Department of English
- Mousumi Mandal, Assistatnt Professor, Department of English
- Priyanka Das, Assistant Professor, Department of English
- Mahitosh Mandal, Assistant Professor, Department of English
- Kalyan Kumar Das, Assistant Professor, Department of English
- Md Monirul Islam, Assistant Professor, Department of English
- Debanjana Nayek, Assistant Professor, Department of English
- Anirban Ray, Assistant Professor, Department of English
- Dhiraj Barman, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography
- Mery Biswas, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography
- Nasim Aktar, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography
- Shibthakur Hembram, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography
- Priyank Patel, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography
- Suranjana Banerji, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography
- Subhajit Das, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography
- Debarshi Guin, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography
- Saurav Chakraborty, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography
- Krishna Gopal Ghosh, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography
- Sanjib Biswas, Assistant Professor, Department of Geology
- Supriyo Kumar Das, Assistant Professor, Department of Geology
- Mary Hansda, Assistant Professor, Department of Hindi
- Anindya Gangopadhyay, Assistant Professor, Department of Hindi
- Deepa Khakha, Assistant Professor, Department of History
- Kishan Harijan, Assistant Professor, Department of History
- Navras J. Aafreedi, Assistant Professor, Department of History
- Oyndrila Sarkar, Assistant Professor, Department of History
- Gourav Lama, Assistant Professor, Department of History
- Sajjad Alam Rizvi, Assistant Professor, Department of History
- Soumen Mukherjee, Assistant Professor, Department of History
- Subhas Khajanchi, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics
- Niladri Roy, Assistant Professor, Department of Performing Arts
- Debaroti Chakraborty, Assistant Professor, Department of Performing Arts
- P. Rajaram, Assistant Professor, Department of Performing Arts
- Bidyut Mondal, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy
- Manoranjan Prasad Sing, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy
- Mainak Pal, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy
- Manoj Kumar Panda, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy
- Ngaineilam Haokip, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy
- Suchetana Chatterjee, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics
- Atanu Rajak, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics
- Ritaban Chatterjee, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics
- Debasish Datta, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics
- Abdus Samad Gayen, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
- Madhura Damle, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
- Garima Dhabhai, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
- Satyabrat Sinha, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
- Rajat Roy, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
- Tanwir Arshed, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
- Madhuchanda Ghosh, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
- Zaad Mahmood, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
- Sumita Saha, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
- Souvik Mondal, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
- Antara Ray, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
- Hia Sen, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
- Sukanya Sarbadhikary, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
- Upal Chakrabarti, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
- Nabamita Das, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
- Suvrata Chowdhary, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
- Thondup Gyatsho Amdo Bhutia, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
- Shampa Sarkar, Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences
- Nabendu Biswas, Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences
- Susmita Mondal, Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences
- Subhabrata Paul, Assistant Professor, School of Biotechnology
- Abdulla Al Masum, Assistant Professor, School of Biotechnology
- Chandrama Mukherjee, Assistant Professor, School of Biotechnology
- Paramita Saha, Assistant Professor, School of Biotechnology
- Saurav De, Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics