Please consider sending a short note to Amitav Ghosh asking him not to accept the Israeli Dan David prize. Below is my letter, below, and that sent by a friend from Lahore. For those of you who know his work, it is particularly galling since he has done some excellent writings on colonialism, exile, and migration.

The letter sent from BRICUP can be read here. Send you own message to Ghosh at http://www.amitavghosh.com/contact/index.php.

Here is a sample letter from a member of our Organizing Committee:

Dear Amitav:

I’m a big admirer of your work! As a fellow Indian, and fan of your writings on colonialism and history, I ask you to please not accept the Israeli Dan David prize and be used in the project of whitewashing apartheid and settler colonialism. We need to oppose the Indian state’s military alliance with Israel and funding of the apartheid state by taking a public stand as conscientious individuals. It will mean a lot to the Palestinians suffering land theft, home demolitions, massacres such as that in Gaza, chemical warfare, racist discrimination, illegal detention, and torture, all under this 21st century colonial regime. Many other artists have chosen to do so, as they did when opposing apartheid South Africa.

Thank you,
Sunaina