Calcutta workshop and discussion on Religious Right, Communlaism, Violence and Censorship (30th July 2014)

Dear friends,

Greetings from all of us at AMAN Trust!

We invite you for a two-day workshop and discussion on Religious Right, Communlaism, Violence and Censorship that AMAN Trust is orgnaising in collaboration with the Jadavpur University and Ebong Alap, Kolkata.

Workshop Dates: 30th July (Wednesday) and 1st August (Friday).

Workshop Venue: Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

The panel discussion on the 30th July (1pm to 4 pm) will focus on ‘The Religious Rights in Neoliberal India’. The speakers are: Dr. Anita Dixit (Azim Premji Foundation), Professor Surajit Mazumdar (JNU) and Dr. Chirashree Dasgupta (Ambedkar University, Delhi). The session will be chaired by Professor Modhumita Roy, Tufts University, USA.

Students are especially invited to engage with the panelists in an interactive session. This would be held in the International Relations Seminar Room, Ground Floor, PG Arts Building, Jadavpur University. The registration for the same would begin at 12.30 pm.

The student workshop on 1 August (12 noon to 3pm) will be held at Vivekananda Hall, Jadavpur University, on the theme of ‘Communalism, Violence and Censorship’. Prof. Kavita Panjabi, Jadavapur University and an AMAN Trustee, would introduce the workshop theme. The session would be moderated by Dr Udayan Bandyopadhyay, Bangabasi College. Other academics will also participate as discussants / commentators on presentations made by students.

Some of the themes on which students are being encouraged to speak for 5 to 7 minutes each are:

communalism and the cultural sphere/education/censorship.
the nature of contemporary polarization.
the role of the state/the role of the media/social media/ mobile technology to spread/combat communal violence.
We are encouraging students to come prepared to speak in English / Bengali / Hindi and not make formal paper presentations. We will be able to enrol 50 students (maximum) at the workshop on 1 August. The panel discussion on 30 July is open to all.

The workshop on 1st August would close with a concert celebrating syncretism from 4pm. Prof. Amlan Dasgupta would speak about the concert idea which is to be followed by Lalon's songs by Sahana Bajpaie, Satyaki Banerjee and Samantak Sinha. We hope the students would enjoy this too.

Students interested in speaking / taking part in the workshop are requested to email their expressions of interest; full name; and short academic bio-data to the following address at the earliest: marxatju@gmail.comwith a copy to ebongalap@yahoo.co.uk


Thanks and regards,
Jamal Kidwai (AMAN Trust); Abdul Kafi and Suchetana Chattopadhyay (Coordinators, CMS, Jadavpur University); Sarmistha Dutta Gupta (Secretary, Ebong Alap)