Spivak Backs Mamata’s Secularism in Current Context

Holberg Prize Winner Expresses Support for Bengal CM

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, the 2025 Holberg Prize winner, wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday. She expressed her support for Banerjee’s secularism “in the current context” and thanked her for her congratulatory message.

Spivak’s Connection to India and Bengal

• Spivak holds an Indian passport
• She deeply cares about India and Bengal’s future

Spivak, a University Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, said in her letter, “I hold an Indian passport and care deeply about the future of India and Bengal. In the current context, I support your secularism.”

Spivak’s Appreciation for Banerjee’s Efforts

• Spivak mentioned Banerjee’s reference to her rural Bengal activities
• She appreciated Banerjee’s work to alleviate poverty

Spivak, known for her essay ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’, was particularly touched by the CM’s reference to her activities in rural Bengal. She appreciated Banerjee’s efforts to alleviate poverty.

Banerjee’s Reaction

Banerjee, speaking to the press on Thursday, said, “I am very humbled. We are proud of her and her work. I also loved the reference to the fact she appreciates our work for the poor and underprivileged. This is something very close to me.”

Amartya Sen’s Stance on Secularism

Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, also a Presidency College alumnus, had previously batted for secularism, especially in Bengal’s context. He said, “(The) major issue in Bengal today is to stand up for secularism, which needs strong defence, that sometimes it does not get, despite the long secular tradition of this region.”

Spivak’s Commitment to Democratic Education

• Spivak has been committed to the democratic education of the very poor in various backward districts of Bengal for the last 40 years
• She spends a good deal of time with them and tries to learn how to interact with cognitive damage of long-standing

Spivak’s letter to the CM spoke of her obsession with her commitment to democratic education of the very poor in various backward districts of Bengal for the last 40 years. She said, “I spend a good deal of time with them and try to learn how to interact with cognitive damage of long-standing. I should tell you that they too are absolutely delighted by my prize.”

Bengali Literature Translation Project

• Spivak’s endeavors to get translated the all-time classics of Bengali literature into English constitute a project that inspires us
• Some of the best writers of the world are translating the Bengali classics for the global audience of these texts

Banerjee, in an X post on Monday, had said Spivak’s “endeavors to get translated the all-time classics of Bengali literature into English constitute a project that inspires us.” The scholar, in the letter, said she was glad that Banerjee mentioned their project of a “bilingual edition of 1,000 years of Bengali writings.”

“Some of the best writers of the world are translating the Bengali classics for the global audience of these texts. We have received funds from South Asian artists, from a fund-raising dinner and from various public-spirited donors. Your approval will undoubtedly be of great help to us in our fund-raising,” she wrote.