The tasks of an intellectual
Bhargabi Das | 7 February 2024 | The Telegraph
October 23, 2023: Delhi Police detained students from Jamia Millia Islamia University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Delhi University.
October 27, 2023: Delhi Police detained over 200 protestors at Jantar Mantar.
October 23, 2023: Delhi Police detained students from Jamia Millia Islamia University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Delhi University.
October 27, 2023: Delhi Police detained over 200 protestors at Jantar Mantar.
Both sets of protestors had gathered to condemn the acts of the Israeli State and demand for a ceasefire in Gaza. Incidentally, it had taken India’s leadership more than a month to publicly condemn the heinous attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. Given the Indian State’s constant scrutiny of liberal academic spaces and intellectuals, it is understandable why Indian academics have often hesitated to register their protest against the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
But that cannot be an excuse. To not engage, to not ask difficult questions, would be to not look power in the eye and speak truth to it. In fact, it becomes doubly imperative now to do this and do it diligently. But this is also the time to ask ourselves who are we as intellectuals and what do we want to become?…