Romila Thapar Appointment Protest Petition

[Guest guest]

I have been authorized to forward this official statement from the of Scholarly Programs at the Library of Congress about

Professor Thapar's appointment.

 

Allen Thrasher

Senior Reference Librarian

Asian Division

Library of Congress

 

Statement:

 

We acknowledge the emails, faxes, and telephone calls from many

people who have been in touch with us either to question or to support

the appointment of Professor Romila Thapar to a Kluge Chair at the

Library of Congress. We are aware that there is an email petition

circulating on the internet alleging that her scholarship is political

propaganda. We also have been in receipt of a large number of

testimonials from noted scholars of Indian history in the United States

and abroad supporting the appointment of Professor Thapar. The volume of

email is such that we are not able to acknowledge each message

individually. In brief, our response is that we are most pleased to have

an Indian historian of Professor Thapar's distinction with us at the

Library of Congress. Her many books already in the collections of the

Library of Congress testify that her work is sympathetic to the ancient

Indian and Hindu historical and cultural traditions in highlighting

their variegated and undogmatic quality, and in making clear the

complexity of Indian civilization.

 

Prosser Gifford

Director of

Scholarly Programs

Library of

Congress