Varsity created needless controversy, says renowned feminist historian Uma Chakravarti

Taking a swipe at the SNDT University, the varsity that allegedly cancelled her lecture without providing any reason, feminist historian Uma Chakravarti, 84, who delivered the Neera Desai Memorial Lecture on Saturday (March 14, 2026), said that the university had created a needless controversy.

“It is amusing. SNDT was a university which was set up by Maharshi Karve by bringing together Brahmin widows who were cast off in Hindu society by Brahminical patriarchy. I had written the article on Brahminical patriarchy 30 years ago. I wasn’t even going to speak about it during my lecture. But it is counterproductive to be so concerned about it,” she said.

She was speaking at Shivaji Mandir in Dadar on ‘A Feminist Looks Back: Four Decades of a Long March’ for a series titled ‘Lectures That Needed to Happen’ organised by the non-profit Mumbai Peace.

The invitation to the programme had stated: “Dr. Uma Chakravarti’s talk, scheduled for March 14 at the RCWS (Research Centre for Women’s Studies), SNDT University, was cancelled by them without any reason being given.”

She had written the essay 30 years ago, after the Mandal Commission. “It didn’t have anything that Phule and Ambedkar didn’t talk of. I had put textual evidence to build an argument on Brahminical patriarchy,” Ms. Chakravarti said. She added that the article was dug out after the 2018 controversy, when some women activists stood next to the then-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, with a placard reading ‘Smash Brahminical Patriarchy’.

“It was an essay published in the Economic and Political Weekly in 1993. It started to circulate madly then. You can’t stop anyone from accessing anything in this Internet age,” she said.

The historian questioned the need for the government and society to seek control over women’s lives. “Why should we be subject to any form of control? If required, we will go beyond the Constitution to build a society which is truly fraternal. Freedom from fear is very important. We need to look at oppression across the board. We have had to fight against it. There are many issues. There is a need to go into history. The historical roots of patriarchy need to be understood. We need to study as well, because we have to substantiate our point of view. Changes have happened when we have understood changes,” she said.

Giving examples from India’s ancient history, she said the country need not look at Europe to find resistance in the feminist movement. “Women have never accepted the conditions [of oppression]. From 6 BCE, women have been questioning patriarchy. We have never left the critical gaze. The women’s studies movement is based on it. The third eye of the feminist movement has to be the central eye for a more humane society. Society shouldn’t be broken. We will fight for a democratic society. Don’t stop us or tell us what to write. Come, debate with us,” Ms. Chakravarti said.