RMF Summary: Week of April 18 - 24, 2011

April 18

Breaking India - A Review Essay Breaking India - A Review Essay By Krishna Kirti Das April 18 "The Martyr Bomber Becomes a Goddess: Women, Theosis, and Sacrificial Violence in Sri Lanka" MSC provides a couple of useful links and adds: "I suspect that, in the years to come, we should see similar motivated "research" in India - what with UChicago setting up a centre in New Delhi avowedly to “pursue ideas for the sake of ideas” and other such illustrious institutions no doubt lining up for a piece of the action" April 18 Is conversion crime? I came across a article in the Mangalore edition of the Deccan Herald where the author of the article Prof(Dr) H M Watson makes a case for conversion... April 18 Holocaust to Suicide Bombing: Prof. Pollock blames Hinduism Aravindan Neelakandan notes: The [] article cites "Breaking India". It argues that certain prestigious scholars being funded by Infosys Foundation and given Padam Bhushan award by Indian government are known to compare Hindu mimamsa with Nazism. BNA adds: "A history professor is supplying a research report as History in her book with poisonous conclusion, possibly to support the Dravidian Politics and the Hoax of Aryan Invasion.N.Ram of The Hindu [the Atheist] released her book. She mentions of a "Brahminical Religion" posing as the only religious past of South India while her truth was that Jainism and Bhuddhism  also existed at that time. There was never any "Brahminical Religion fighting with others..." A. Neelakandan responds: "Even Indologists like Lorenzen, who have no love lost for Hinduism, have shown how the term 'Hindu' has been in use as a religious-geographical identifier starting at least third century BCE. 'Breaking India' has an entire appendix devoted to showing how the most ancient Tamil literary tradition, shows that Tamil society, from its hoary past,has for its religious life a Vedic kernel. In terms of non-Vedic traditions like Jain etc. and also folk tradition, we know that harmonizing tendencies have become part of the popular Tamil psyche even during the time Chilapathikaram (not later than 5th century BCE [corrected by A. Neelakandan to CE) was written. The poet of this,perhaps the first pan-Hindu epic, shows how the tribal worship of Goddess has Vedic knowledge embodied in it... Intellisurfer responds: "...There is an element of truth in the view that South India, especially Tamil Nadu had varying philosophies competing and existing harmoniously. It is something to be proud about. Among the 5 great tamil epics - 2 are Buddhists, 2 are Jain and one influenced by Buddhism. All were written before 10th Century AD. It could mean that Jainism and Buddhism was very much in vogue among the elite, merchants and nobility. Saivite Kings are known to have donated towards Buddhism viharas..." April 18 Pakistani official defence website slams "Breaking India" book I am not at all surprised to see this alert pakistani official defence forum sounding its bugle... April 19 A Miilion dollar book review Book Reviews Breaking India: Western Interventions in Dravidian and Dalit Faultlines by Dr. Prema Nandakumar Long ago, we were taught in the geology class that a fault line was one where rocks had been displaced in the solid earth-structure which made it a weak spot threatening the overall stability at some unspecified point of time. Similarities abound in creation and what is true of the material world is reflected in the social life of a nation.