"This decision is not a reflection of the committee's rigorous work or the value of the prize itself, but a stand taken in light of the institutional silence and policy decisions made by the Modern Language Association regarding the ongoing genocide in Palestine, including the MLA leadership's appalling suppression of the Delegate Assembly's right to vote on a proposed resolution to boycott, sanction, and divest from Israel,"
"I also hope that by declining, I can contribute to the urgent conversation about the ethical responsibilities of professional academic organizations when facing colonialism, brutal state violence, and genocide. My book, which my generous colleagues on the committee have recognized, is about how colonial capitalism does not even spare ghosts. Against such power, I still believe our weapon remains solidarity."
Tithi Bhattacharya refused the Modern Language Association's Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for South Asian Studies as a protest against MLA decisions related to Israel's attacks on Gaza. Bhattacharya framed the refusal around institutional silence and the MLA leadership's suppression of the Delegate Assembly's right to vote on a proposed boycott, sanction, and divestment resolution concerning Israel. The prize had been awarded for Ghostly Pasts, Capitalist Presence: A Social History of Fear in Colonial Bengal, published August 2024. The refusal aims to foreground the ethical responsibilities of academic organizations confronting colonialism, state violence, and genocide and to affirm solidarity as the response.
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