COMMUNICATION
This is with reference to the EPW controversy, narrated by Sankar Ray in Mainstream (August 5, 2017) [‘Communication: More on EPW' (page 33)]. The author's value-judgement is much evident in his narrative. One has definitely the right to narrate a controversy according to his understanding of the situation. The problem lies elsewhere. We are yet to know or will never know the in-house parameters of the conflict between the Sameeksha Trust and the Editor as well as between the EPW Editorial Team and the Editor.
Though the removal of Paranjoy Guha Thakurta's critical article from the EPW website should be questioned in the public forums, tarnishing the public image of EPW should not be our mission. Particularly damaging in the portrayal of Ray is the characterisation of the seniormost member of the EPW Editorial Team as a “high-voltage Naxalite”.
Mainstream should not become a forum of such personal attacks.
Kolkata Arup Kumar Sen
Editor's response: Mainstream holds EPW in deep esteem and any such misgiving as reflected in the aforementioned letter is totally unwarranted and unfounded. Mainstream has never been nor shall ever become a forum of personal attacks, least of all on such a journal as EPW.