Sentiment Politics Censorship: The State of Hurt

The furore over Wendy Doniger’s alternative reading of Hinduism, the burning of Perumal Murugan’s novel, the debates in Parliament over an Ambedkar cartoon, the removal of Ramanujan’s essay on the Ramayana from university textbooks, and the murder of Charlie Hebdo editors in Paris over satirical cartoons of Prophet Mohammad are all rooted in purported “public” claims to being offended or hurt. Such incidents have necessitated a deeper understanding of the nature of hurt or offence in society. This book interrogates the “politics of hurt” and its articulations as they spiral into horrific attacks on everyday spaces of democracy.