On Friday (15th November), Sahitya Akademi (an autonomous body under the Union Ministry of Culture) cancelled a seminar after social media users expressed outrage over the invitation extended to Devdutt Pattanaik.
“Due to unavoidable circumstances, the two-day Seminar on “Indian Mythology: Memory, Retellings & Translations” to be held in New Delhi on 25-26 November 2024 stands postponed,” informed Sahitya Akademi in a tweet.
It further added, “The Sahitya Akademi will announce the new dates for the Seminar which will be held at a later date.”
The Sahitya Akademi will announce the new dates for the Seminar which will be held at a later date.@MinOfCultureGoI @secycultureGOI @ksraosahitya @MIB_India @PIB_India @DDNational @AkashvaniAIR @DDNewsHindi @_IndianCulture
— Sahitya Akademi (@sahityaakademi) November 15, 2024
Devdutt Pattanaik was invited to give the inaugural address to a seminar titled ‘Indian Mythology: Memory, Retellings and Translations’ on 25th November 2024.
The event was cancelled after netizens exposed how the alleged ‘mythologist’ abused women in multiple tweets using dehumanising language.