Media Report: Delhi University professor denies link with Chhattisgarh Maoists NEW DELHI: Delhi University professor Nandini Sundar on Thursday denied Chhattisgarh Polices claim that she is associated with a Maoist body in the state. Meeting Maoists is no crime. Whatever meeting I had was for my research work on the Bastar region, said the award-winning sociologist. Sundar, who is not the first Delhi-based teacher to be accused of Maoist links, was caught in the controversy after Congress member Badri Gawde, whom Chhattisgarh Police paraded before the media, claimed he arranged meetings between Sundar and the Maoists, and that she had formed a committee at their behest to oppose all rail and mining projects in Kanker. Sundar said, I did meet Gawde, but once, and that for an interview. My opinions on Maoists, the Constitution and democracy are pretty clear. So what crime have I committed? She said she supports the cause of the Rowghat Sangharsh Committee but is not connected with it. The claim that I have been spearheading (the movement) is completely false... Police are claiming I am spearheading the movement in Rowghat. I am either teaching in DU or working there. It cant be both. Sundar completed her PhD from Columbia University, New York in 1990 and is the author of Subalterns and Sovereigns: An Anthropological History of Bastar. She has been researching on the Bastar region for 24 years and is a vocal critic of Salwa Judum. She says police have been targeting her for a long time without verifying their claims. In 2010, I was named along with Medha Patkar and Arundhati Roy for attacking a local Congress leader, Avdesh Gautam, in Dantewada, whereas I was in Paris that time. I didnt even know the name of Gautam then. Sundar said, As researchers, we need liberty to visit difficult areas and we should have freedom from police and the underground. What is wrong if we meet Maoists to interview? Earlier, Maharashtra Police had raided professor G N Saibabas house in North Campus for his alleged Maoist links.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 14:24:06 +0000
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