Shillong, Sep 27: The 17th Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar Endowment Lecture was held in Women’s College Shillong auditorium.
A presentation on the topic “Indian Knowledge system, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and today’s world , an exploratory analysis” was delivered by invited guest Prof Shobhonlal Datta Gupta, Retired SN Banerjee Chair Professor, Department of Political Science, Calcutta University.
The session was chaired by Debashish Choudhury, President of Education India Trust. The Principal of the college, Ratnadeep Roy, welcomed the audience which was attended by invited guests, faculty and students.
In his presentation Datta Gupta explored Vidyasagar’s continuing relevance through contemporary debates on Indian knowledge systems, indigenous knowledge and decolonisation. He questioned the continued privileging of Western epistemological frameworks in Indian education and emphasised that decolonisation should create space for diverse and indigenous forms of knowledge rather than simply reject Western knowledge.
Referring to Frantz Fanon and Edward Said, he highlighted the significance of oral traditions, lived experiences and indigenous research methodologies, while referring to Indian intellectual traditions such as Artha, Kama, Moksha, Paravidya and Aparavidya.
