Purnima Dhavan is the Associate Professor, Giovanni and Amne Costigan Endowed Professor in the History Department of History at the University of Washington. As per the University of Washington, Purnima Dhavan’s work focuses on “the social and cultural history of early modern South Asia, 1500-1800, how religious, linguistic, and status identities shaped the political and cultural institutions of the Mughal period is central to my work.” Her pronouns are she/her/hers. She is the founding member of the South Asia Scholars Activists Collective (SASAC). The SASAC launched The Hindutva Harassment Field Manual that “offers educational and practical resources for the targets, allies, students, and employers of those subjected to Hindu Right assaults.” In 2013, she was awarded the American Institute of Indian Studies Senior Fellowship, funded by the US Government’s National Endowment for the Humanities.
In “Hindutva’s threat to academic freedom” Purnima Dhavan, as part of SASAC, calls for the recognition of Hindutva as a political hate ideology that is distinct from Hinduism. She argues that Hindutva has “been instrumental in transforming India’s once pluralistic and secular democracy into an ethnonationalist state defined by Hindu supremacy and human rights violations.” The authors unwittingly agree that they want to gate-keep India’s history, preventing Hindus from seeking out India’s true history. “Such hate seeks to undermine our genuine, nuanced research, which presents a vision of South Asian history, religions and cultures as multifaceted and pluralistic. Our scholarship undercuts Hindutva’s project to remake India and Indian history.”
In an interview with Quint, Purnima Dhavan defended the need for a Hindutva Harassment Field Manual saying “When well-funded groups begin to target academics and students in this way, or attempt to shape curriculum in our schools and universities based on their ideological politicised agendas, I feel the professional obligation to speak up. Common decency would also dictate condemning bullying, online harassment, threats of violence targeting ANYONE”. She remarked that history cannot be taught through a single lens, “Teaching history from a diversity of perspectives that include those of religious minority groups in India, Dalits, or women is something to be valued not attacked. Understanding the rich diversity of opinions and practices within Hinduism and also in the diverse faith communities in South Asia and the diaspora is also important.” She said trolling, online bullying, threats of violence are an “attempt to enforce a single point of view or to intimidate and silence scholars” while doing the same to silence any voices that do not accept her version of history.
In 2021, Purnima Dhawan was a signatory of a letter in support of Audrey Truschke known for her attacks on Hindus and Hinduism. The letter called for a
“critical examination of Hindutva, a political ideology, is not the same thing as Hinduphobia. Dr. Truschke’s critique of the former rests on its majoritarian expression in India, in ways that threaten the safety, security, and equality of Muslims and other minorities.” Speakers at the Dismantling of Global Hindutva conference and historians in Western educational institutions have routinely equated Hindutva and Hinduism and Hindutva with Brahminism. Dr.Pritam Singh said, “Hindutva’s project is to spread the tentacles of Hinduism in every society”. P Sivakami called “Hindusim a danger to independence, equality and brotherhood and an enemy of democracy”, Dr. Shana Sippy said “Hindutva is Hinduism”, and Dr. Gajendran Ayyathurai called Hindu last names as “violent advocates of…..malignant Brahmanism”.
Speaking at the Centre for Free Expression lecture series on Threats to Academic Freedom co-sponsored by the Canadian Association of University Teachers, Institute for the Humanities, Simon Fraser University, PEN Canada, Purnima Dhavan said “Hindutva asks for homogeneity of belief, ritual practice, cultural outlooks” and “strips off diverse viewpoints that most countries regions and communities in South Asia have had” and that it impacts scholarly works by trying to impose homogeneity that does not exist. On the issue of non-existent academic repression, she said, “India has not seen the kind of academic repression since the emergency in the 1970s under Indira Gandhi’s govt and it’s getting worse.” She called it “Hindutva repression” who are trying to drown diverse voices such as Dalits, Hindus for Human Rights, feminists because “people are mobilising on the Hindutva network are now claiming to speak for everybody of South Asian origin and all Hindus”. Purnima Dhavan then gave the example of SASAC’s Hindutva field Harassment guide for those who face harassment from Hindutva. She denied Hindu genocide under Mughal rule. “Hindutva activists online who are trying to make parallels Hindu genocide under Mughals which never happened with the genocide of the Jewish people in the Holocaust.”
Purima Davan is not on any social media platform.
STOP HINDU HATE ADVOCACY NETWORK 