London, Nov 27(ANI): Harvard Professor and historian Niall Ferguson has threatened to sue an Indian author and essayist Pankaj Mishra, if he does not apologize for accusing the former of being a racist.
"As my last letter explained, [Mishra] made a vile allegation of racism against me. In his response he nowhere denies that this was his allegation; nor does he deny that he intended to make it," The Guardian quoted Ferguson, as saying.
"If he won't apologise for calling me a racist, I will persecute him until he does," he added.
Mishra has utilized the columns of a journal, London Review of Books to challenge Ferguson's works, including his latest book 'Civilization', which view western empires as having adverse effects and argue that colonialism had some positive effects.
"It says something about the political culture of our age that Ferguson has got away with this disgraced world view for as long as he has. Certainly, it now needs to be scrutinised in places other than the letters page of the LRB," Mishra said, countering Ferguson's statements.
Mishra described Ferguson as "homo atlanticus redux", a "retailer of emollient tales about the glorious past" whose books "are known less for their original scholarly contribution than for containing some provocative counterfactuals".
"The basic insinuation [I am making] is that Mishra either did not read my book properly or if he did he was reckless. I find it staggering that the LRB is standing by him. I spoke to the editor Mary-Kay Wilmers and said: 'Don't force my hand by forcing me to put it in the hands of lawyers.' All I have got back is weasel words," Ferguson said.
London Review of Books declined to comment on the issue. (ANI)
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