Professor of South Asia's only Jewish Studies course calls for peace...

Aheli Banerjee, The Times of India, Kolkata, November 3, 2023

Professor Navras J Aafreedi of Presidency University, who teaches the only course on Jewish history in the subcontinent, has been urging for peace in Gaza. Pro-Palestine solidarity pouring into academic spaces is bringing both sides of the Gaza conflict under the same roof.

“All my students who have opted for Jewish studies understand that conflict cannot be resolved with violence and want an immediate end to the bloodshed,” said Aafreedi.

In an atmosphere of hasty polarization throughout the country Aafreedi said rather than presuming Jewish studies as a form of Israel advocacy, one should consider the subject's heightened importance now in making students historically aware of the genesis of the conflict, and cultivating sensitivity to the issue. [...]

Talking about the unfortunate implication of many Indians adopting a pro-Israel stance as a pretext for launching Islamophobic attacks, Aafreedi clarified that despite his Muslim name, he was born a secular father with Muslim Pathan roots and a Hindu-Sikh mother, "In my case, people were surprised to find a person with a Muslim sounding name studying Jews and anti-Semitism and relentlessly trying to combat anti-Semitism," he said. ...