Mahasweta Devi’s work with the Advasi community has been a sore point for various government parties and political ideologies. But, when the Academic Council removed her landmark short story, 'Draupadi', from Delhi University’s undergraduate syllabus, everyone took notice.
Drawing inspiration from Mahabharata, Devi’s protagonist Dopdi Mehjen, is a tribal woman from West Bengal accused of being a Naxal and picked up by government officials and gangraped by the Sena Nayak’s (commanding officers) men . The next day when she is summoned by the Sena Nayak she walks up naked to his surprise and says, "There isn't a man here that I should be ashamed of. I will not let you put my cloth on me. What more can you do?".
Her naked body defies ages of sexual violence, casteism, and largely, state violence.
In an attempt to reinstate the works by Mahasweta Devi, Bama, and Sukirtharani 115 English teachers from across DU colleges have slammed the decision stating that "the entire process was flagrantly violated and bypassed by the Committee".
The decisions to drop the stories of Mahasweta Devi and two Dalit authors Bama and Sukirtharini is proof of the growing intolerance of expression by moral gatekeepers, which has been growing since May 2014.
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