IIT Bombay Faculty Defends Professor Sharmistha Saha Against Allegations of Hamas Support

IIT Bombay academics have come out in favor of a lecturer who was the target of demonstrations after it was alleged that she and another guest speaker had lauded the Hamas attack against Israel.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Faculty Forum of IIT Bombay denounced the efforts and threats made to damage the character of Professor Sharmistha Saha, who works in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Following the IIT's showing of the documentary Arna's Children last week, a group called the Vivek Vichar Manch has alleged that Saha and guest speaker Sudhanva Deshpande had praised Hamas during a conversation.

The faculty forum is very disturbed by the defamation of one of our colleagues' reputations and the violent threats made against them via postings on social media and anonymous phone calls. According to the Faculty Forum's statement, "the claims made on social media about her supporting terrorists or HAMAS are based on misinformation and falsehoods."

The Forum said that it had spoken with Saha about the matter and that she had refuted the accusations. She showed the movie as a component of a continuing postgraduate course since it is pertinent to the practice of traumatized child recovery. A 2004 documentary titled Arna's Children tells the story of The Freedom Theatre, which was formed by two well-known Jewish actors. The movie is free to watch on YouTube and has garnered several accolades at international film festivals.

For the post-screening discussion and to convey the film's significance to the audience, theatrical celebrity Deshpande was invited as a guest speaker.

Despite being told not to, a non-course participant student took a video of the lecture on his smartphone.

"Our colleague did not voice any opinions on terrorism or HAMAS during the whole session. The frightening atmosphere that pervaded the class prevented her from responding to the movie or to Mr. Deshpande's remarks. The tape, which was recorded in spite of her overt denial, was shown on some TV stations and posted on social media, according to the Faculty Forum statement.

At the IIT main entrance, a few individuals claiming to be part of the Vivek Vichar Manch yelled slogans while carrying sizable banners with pictures and Saha's name on them. They demanded that Saha be expelled from IIT Bombay, labeled her a traitor, and threatened to kill her.

The statement read, "The Faculty Forum of IIT Bombay strongly condemns the following: Calls for violence against our colleague, her name and photograph being used in the hoardings, and her reputation being tarnished in print, TV, and social media due to false claims that she supports terrorism and HAMAS."