Voyages into the Past presents a lecture series as part of the just past Ramazan and Eid, titled "Muslim Citizenships and Belongings in India". In a country where both legally and socially, Muslims are being increasingly cast as second class citizens and being disenfranchised and dispossessed, what does it mean to be an Indian who is Muslim, or a Muslim who is Indian. Two public talks have been planned as part of the event:
1. History, Memory and the City: Remembering and Forgetting in Contemporary Delhi. Dr. Swapna Liddle in conversation with Dr. Saeed Ahmad. 6 pm, 17th April
2. Practices of the State: Muslims, Law and Violence in India (A Book Talk). Professor Tanweer Fazal. 6 pm, 26th April
Public Talk 1:
The question of what role does memory play in history forms a significant aspect towards understanding how narratives are constructed. As Michael Kenny puts it, ‘In certain respects, the past is up for grabs. It is really the meaning of the past that is of issue.’ This meaning has fluid boundaries in different socio-political contexts, acquiring several forms of representation, and it is here that the question of individual and collective memory comes up. Be it historical events or built heritage, they function as ‘sites of memory’ wherein the past is tied to the present, often, in ways to serve a purpose of the present.
In the current political climate of polarization, with particular communities being dispossessed and disenfranchised, such intersecting aspects of memory and history, albeit slippery and sensitive, acquire a heightened importance. Questions surrounding heritage, tangible or intangible - what they mean to us in the present, how essential they are in forming identities, what are the different ways in which these places hold the memories of people, and what happens when they are altered, physically erased or distorted in their narratives and how such exercises are imposed in the legal and administrative frameworks – thus need to be addressed.
It is with this objective that Voyages into the Past invites you to a talk by eminent historian, author and heritage activist Dr. Swapna Liddle, and scholar of urban history at Jindal School of Art and Architecture, Dr. Saeed Ahmad. Titled, “History, Memory and the City: Remembering and Forgetting in Contemporary Delhi”, the talk will be livestreamed on the Facebook page of Voyages into the Past at 6 pm, on the 17th of April, Wednesday.
Come join us as we delve deep into the conversations of the past and the present, in order to form a better future.
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