Savitiribai Phule Pune University Took Decision to Defer Indian History Congress ‘Unilaterally’

NEW DELHI: Papers had been prepared, accommodation and travel arrangements had been pre-booked in view of the Christmas vacation rush, but all those plans stand dashed for 1,200 delegates scheduled to attend the 79th Indian History Congress (IHC), which has been ‘postponed’, citing ‘financial issues’.

What’s more, the Executive Council (EC) of the IHC, scheduled to be held from December 28-30 at Savitiribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), Maharashtra, was reportedly informed about the postponement through an anonymous email on December 11, 2018.

It is the SPPU authorities that announced the postponement of the upcoming event, 15 days prior to the schedule being published on the university website. In a recent press release, the IHC stated that the decision to postpone the session was taken “unilaterally” by the university authorities.

Speaking with the Indian Cultural Forum, Dr. Mahalakshmi Ramakrishnan, Secretary of the 79th IHC, said, “Over 1,200 delegates were supposed to attend and around 700 papers were to be presented in this year’s IHC.”

One of the reasons given by the SPPU authorities to the conference authorities was “financial difficulties and lack of accommodation for the delegates.” The EC of IHC has also expressed their anguish in a letter written to the Vice Chancellor.

Commenting on the issue, eminent historian Romila Thapar said, “The last- minute postponement sounds rather suspicious because they should have known about the financial situation much earlier. Also, the state of Maharashtra does not agree with the history, as taught by the Indian History Congress.”

The annual IHC receives grants from the University Grants Commission, Indian Council of Historical Research, and other public institutions. It has also received Rs 15 lakh as delegate and membership fees.

According to sources, one of the reasons given by the SPPU authorities earlier was uncertainty in the “law and order” situation in Maharashtra. Later, however, a letter issued by the university stated that it was not just the law and order situation, but also financial issues since they were unable to raise funds for the conference.

Responding to multiple changes in the reasons given by the university authorities for the postponement, Prof. Thapar said, “The reason for not allowing the Congress will keep changing. It all sounds a bit suspicious.”

IHC is one of the biggest events held in academic circles. The body constitutes noted academics and historians from across the country. It is recognised by the ICHR and has formal representation in the Central Advisory Board of Archaeology. IHC, by its constitution, is only committed to the objective of history and not to any particular political ideology or outlook. It has also been defending the academic freedom of speech since 1975, after the arrests of several academics and others during the Emergency. The IHC decides its upcoming session’s venue a year prior to the event. The current venue, Savitiribai Phule Pune University, was chosen by the association IHC after the university authorities’ proposal.

Disappointed with the development, Professor S Irfan Habib, who was Maulana Azad Chair at the National University of Educational Planning and Administration, said, “The last-minute postponement of such a big conference, which the university committed to the IHC more than a year ago, can’t be decided by the university alone. The university must have gotten an idea about the financial situation while preparing for the conference, i.e. 3 to 6 months before. This last-minute change can’t just be seen as a “financial” issue, there could be more to it.”

Last year, the IHC had also critiqued the Right-wing government, citing its example on plastic surgery and genetic science relating it to mythical idols. “The IHC has been facing serious issues over the past few years. The government, especially this Right-wing government, always had a problem with the IHC. It doesn’t agree with the idea of India that the IHC proposes or talks about. The whole thing is politically motivated and one can see through it,” added Prof Habib.

Responding to the postponement, Lakshmi Chandran, a participant and winner of last year’s Dr. Nasreen Ahmed Memorial Prize said, “I was also invited to the IHC for the award. I had already booked tickets. As a participant, I am utterly disappointed with the postponement. For students of history, IHC is one of the most prestigious conferences and it is these students who will be the most affected by the postponement because they can’t afford to lose such a huge sum of money.”

Talking to ICF, another participant, Upasana Hazarika, said, “It takes several months of hard work to write a research paper for the conference. Postponing the conference will really demotivate students.”

The IHC has called for an emergency EC meeting  on December 14, regarding its future course of action. In another press release issued by the IHC, Pune, it called for public support from the citizens and the academic community of Pune.