By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Guwahati: Despite the death threat to some of the Muslim scholar participants allegedly by Hindutva organization, the organisers of the All India Oriental Conference (AIOC) said the biennale event will proceed as scheduled.
The event is scheduled to be held at the Gauhati University from January 2. More than 1,000 participants will take part in the event from across the country. Papers on several subjects, including Sanskrit, Islamic Studies and Assamese, Pali, Persian, Arabic, Vedic, Iranian, Classical Sanskrit, Buddhism, Philosophy, Literature, Culture and Ethnicity of North East among others will be presented at the three day conference.
As reported by TwoCircles.net first, few Muslim scholars had withdrawn their participation after they received a letter each with death threat from some lesser known Hindutva outfit called ‘Rashtriya Hindu Sena’. Organisers said they have approached Assam police seeking safety and security for the participants. The police, in turn, have claimed it would be an incident-free event.
“We have already contacted the state police. We have mailed the copies of the letters to the police which were sent to some of the scholars, who are invited for the conference. The police have assured us that there will be no untoward incident during the conference. We will go ahead with the scheduled programme,” said Sujata Purkayastha, joint secretary of the organizing committee and a professor of Sanskrit department at the Gauhati University.
Though at least seven participants have dropped out after receiving threat letters, the organizers at the Sanskrit department of the Gauhati University assured that there will be no untoward incident.
“We have had talks with the scholars and tried to assure them. We are hopeful that they will be present during the event as it is very important that they do. Not just Sanskrit, we have as many as 22 subjects in which the experts will present their papers,” she added.
Muslim scholars had received death threats through letters headlined ‘Rastriya Hindu Sena’ with address of ‘Bhartiya Vichar Sadhna Publications, Sangh Karyalaya, Nagpore (sic).Most letters were sent by speed post from Vadodara, Gujarat.
“This small letter is warning letter. If you will be over smart, our people will monitor you and very difficult to come back at your residence. Nobody will support you. Tell your Guru, Shishya (student, teacher, adhyapak) not to attend any AIOC. Otherwise …………Nil………. We have full details about your arrival, stay and many more (sic),” said the letter.
The organisers said they had sent a copy of the letter to the local police.
“We condemn such acts and urge everybody to stand united for the good cause of society and education. We are glad to have organized the event and we are trying our best to conduct it in a successful manner,” said Purkayastha.
Related:
Rashtriya Hindu Sena issues death threats to Muslim scholars ahead of Oriental Conference