NEW DELHI – Audrey Truschke, the historian who recently wrote a book on Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, has claimed that one of her events in Indian city of Hyderabad was canceled apparently due to the opposition by zealot groups.
Truschke took to Twitter on Saturday and shared that she had to speak at an event in Hyderabad, however, her invitation was revoked after the relevant authorities realized that she faced vile attacks and politically-motivated opposition.
https://twitter.com/AudreyTruschke/status/1028111753945567233?s=19
They chose to protect the sentiments of haters, the literary giant wrote in dismay and added that she would now be speaking at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Revealing their side of the story, the organisers cited ‘lack of space’ as a core reason behind the cancellation of the event titled “Unpopular Stories: Narrating the Indo-Islamic Past and Navigating Present-day Prejudices”.
Krishnakirti Foundation of Kalakriti Art Gallery said they called off the lecture because of lack of space and to avoid controversy but also mentioned the views of the author as a reason behind the cancellation.
“We expected a big crowd and we do not have that much space. We came to know that some people are opposed to Truschke’s views and made their displeasure known. We did not receive any calls threatening us, and no one asked us to cancel the event. We asked other organisations if they could host the event and Birla Science Centre agreed. A day later, they said they were not in a position to host the lecture,’’ a Kalakriti official said.
Birla Science Centre secretary Shyam Kothari said they received a pencil booking and we did a background check on the speaker and found that she was controversial.
Moreover, Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar said that they did not ask anyone to cancel the event as no one approached them for permission.
In an earlier status, the author had outlined that one of the letters protesting her appearance was by an individual claiming allegiance to ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Indologist has been under fire for one of her book on Aurangzeb as a section of Indian society considers that the author tried to glorify the ruler in her writing.
She recently opined that Aurangzeb protected more Hindu temples than he destroyed, inviting the wrath of groups who disparage the sixth Mughal emperor.
