Showing posts with label Invading the Sacred. Show all posts

A Report on Swadeshi Indology Conference-2

An Infinity India Foundation (IFI) Report. A small IFI team (you know who you are) put in incredible hard work on the ground, working quietly behind the scenes. Their quick thinking and teamwork, along with help from volunteers ('the unknown soldiers'), overcame multiple and daunting real-time operational and logistical challenges to make this event a success. Thank you for your Seva.
Photos.

The second edition of the Swadeshi Indology Conference Series was held at the IGNCA premises, New Delhi on 17th, 18th and 19th February in collaboration with IGNCA. It was titled "Global Perceptions of Indian Heritage"

The conference got off to a great start with an inaugural function graced by the presence of the Union Minister for Law and Justice and Information Technology, Sri. Ravi Shankar Prasad and Rajya Sabha MP and BJP stalwart Sri. Subramanian Swamy.

This edition of the Conference series was much larger in scope than the first one and had three parallel tracks. Continuing on the theme of critiquing the Neo-Orientalist School of thought led by Prof. Sheldon Pollock, this edition saw 10 theses put forward by Pollock countered.

There were 35 paper presentations on topics ranging from Rasa, Mimamsa, Chronology, Desacralisation with the maximum number of presentations being made on the topic of Rasa.

Apart from these paper presentations, there was the robust refutation from the traditional scholars. The format is called Vakyartha Sadas and it is something that is conducted amongst traditional scholars in their own groupings but has gone out of the larger public discourse. We were able to bring back this ancient tradition centre stage and it was a huge success.

We will be continuing to engage with these scholars and will strive to make their voice heard in the larger mainstream discourse. Vakyartha Sadas, the traditional form of Purvapaksha and Uttarapaksha debate will slowly be revived and restored to its rightful position as a scientific and rigorous form of debate that has been the cornerstone of our intellectual tradition.

The conference signed off with a valedictory function in which, awards for the best papers and two monographs (the outcome from SI-1).The two monograph writers have been supported by Vellayan Chettiar Foundation based in Chennai and the awards for the monographs were given away by FICS (Foundation for Indian Civilisation Studies) run by Sri. Mohandas Pai.

The papers which won prizes from FICS (Foundation for Indian Civilisation Studies instituted by Sri T V Mohandas Pai) were:

1. Prof. K Gopinath for his paper on Rasa titled "A computational Theory for Rasa"

2. Megh Kalyanasundaram and Manogna Sastry for their paper on Chronology titled "Purvapaksha of Sheldon Pollock's use of Chronology"

3. Nilesh Oak for his paper on Chronology titled "A cririque of Pollock's "self-evident claims" for the chronology of Mahabharata and Ramayana AND Assertion for the dating of Mahabharata and Ramayana events based on the internal astronomy evidence"

4. Dr. Shrinivas Tilak for his paper on Mimamsa titled "Professor Sheldon Pollock on History in India: A critique from the perspective of Mimamsa"

5. Sowmya Krishnapur for her paper in Sanskrit titled "Sheldon Pollock Pratipaditasya Vyakarana Sastra - Prabhutvayoha Sambandhasya Yuktiyuktatva Pariksha"

6. Subhodeep Mukhopadhyay for his paper on Sastra titled "Practice versus Theory: Ganita Sastra and Western Mathematics"

7. Sudarshan Therani for his paper on Philology titled "The Science of Meaning"

In addition to the above papers, awards were also given for the two papers from the first edition of the conference series that were turned into monographs. These monographs were released at the conference in their draft form. It is a moment of pride for the movement that we have created a significant body of work in such a short span of time. A draft version of the selected papers from SI-1 was also released at the conference.

Hence, as of now, starting with TBFS, this movement has produced 4 books: TBFS, Proceedings of SI-1, and two monographs. Soon, we will also have the proceedings of SI-2 published. We will therefore have a solid body of work in just over a year's time.

The monograph details are as follows:

1. Manjushree Hegde is the author of the monograph titled "Politics of Sanskrit Studies: A Critical Appraisal of Sheldon Pollock's Ramayana"

2. T M Narendran is the author of the monograph titled "A Pariksa of Sheldon Pollock's Three Dimensional Philology"

Congratulations to all the prize winners!

An important marker of the conference was the presence and active and enthusiastic participation of Dr. Nagaswamy upon whom a Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred by FICS.

Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Nagaswamy

We will take a small breather but will soon announce plans for the next conference of the series.

Lastly, we have had excellent video coverage and the videos will be up sooner rather than later on all platforms.

Do look out for the upcoming fantastic videos from Si-2.

Regards,

Team IFI

Wendy Doniger's 'Grandchildren' mobilized to lead Hinduphobia - with NRI funding

Rajiv Malhotra:
Andrea Jain who wrote this Hinduphobic article was student of the notorious Jeffrey Kripal (himself a Wendy's Child and target of many of my writings.)

Despite all this pedigree, the NRI fools funded a Jain studies chair at the University where Jeffrey K teaches and put him in position of authority to call the shots there.

See the Jain Chair announcement.

What is going on with our rich NRIs - claiming to be nationalists before one audience, and then funding such institutionalized Hinduphobia?

Why have many of you [members] failed to expose this syndrome of NRI duplicity?

HHG Archives

IHAR Houston Event 2014

Bangalore Literature Festival 2014

Lectures not specific to Hinduism

Forum Summaries

2015

October Indian DNA and civilization - Reflections, How tapasya leads to anubhava and then knowledge, Rajiv Malhotra's messages,

August Forum Response to Prof. Anant Rambachan's critique of Indra's Net

July ‘The Battle for Sanskrit’ – A Preview of Rajiv Malhotra’s latest book

March Ignorant Hindu leaders invite Rambachan to represent Hinduism, Two Letters by a Native American on her dharma, The Battle for Sanskrit is Under way,

February John Dayal, Part-1: An encounter, John Dayal, Part-2: Breaking India

2014

December   Does Devdutt Pattnaik know the meaning of cult?,

November Avoiding 5 common mistakes when defending Hinduism, RISA's Token Hindus, Aravindan Neelakandan clarifies, The Sanskrit Wars Have Beg un, Not Proto Indo European, but Proto Sanskrit,

October Why Hinduism is simply not equal to Right Wing, Are anthropological studies as carried out in the West a violation of Human Rights, New Jersey evangelists target Diwali for digestion,

September Sufism: The latest fashion statement among Hindus, Swami Nithyananda: Persecu tion 2.0, Avatar or Incarnation: Does it matter?,

August    Hijacking Sanskrit Away from Hindu Dharma, The strange case of the re-de-re-colonized Ananya Vajpeyi,

June          Is ISKCON being digested into Judeo-Christianity?, Dangers for India in collaborating with German Indologists, The rape debate: How Western Universalism influences India's intellectual elite,

March Transcript: Arun Shourie's Lecture on Indra's Net, Encounters With Western Psychology,

February   Summary of the Neo-Hindu thesis,

Milestone: Forum completes three years

January Intolerance in the name of freedom of expression,

February 4-10, 10-16, 16-22, 22-28,

Milestone: 'Breaking India' Book launch

Hitchhiker's Guide to 'Invading The Sacred'

Introduction

Blogger @BeingDifferent summarizes some of the key findings of the 500+ page book 'Invading the Sacred' (ITS) that represents a scholarly critique of Hinduism Studies in North America. The recent Penguin-books controversy was milked to the max by Wendy Doniger & co., driving the sales of her seriously flawed book "The Hindus' that denigrates Hinduism and India's freedom fighters all the way to the top: #1 best-seller in Amazon's religion section. On the other hand, Rajiv Malhotra has made ITS, the book that rebuts such distorted works by non-practitioners of Hinduism freely downloadable to counter the continuing misrepresentations of Doniger & co. It is noteworthy that Doniger & co. have not been able to challenge any of the scholarly assertions in ITS and have always shied away from a public debate with Rajiv Malhotra. This is a must-read book for Hindus all over the world. Rajiv Malhotra later wrote 'Breaking India', 'Being Different', and most recently, 'Indra's Net'. Each of them a best-selling masterpiece that most readers have described in one word: Unignorable.

The following blogs provide a condensed summary of ITS' findings. We hope this encourages critical-thinking Hindus to take a few weeks to read ITS in its original form fully and recognize the underlying Kurukshetra that has unfolded, and the unprecedented challenges that Hinduism, and indeed, all Dharmic thought systems, face today.

Chapter Summaries

Chapter 1:   Why is "Invading the sacred" an important book?

Chapter 2:   Academic Hinduphobia

Chapter 3:   Wendy's child Jeffrey Kripal on Sri Ramakrishna

Chapter 4:   Sarah Caldwell - Reinterpreting Hindu Goddess as a symbol of sex and violence

Chapter 5:   Paul Courtright's distortion of Ganesha and Shiva

Chapter 6:   Stanley Kurtz on Hindu mothers and Hijackers

Chapter 7:   Challenges to Wendy Doniger's Sanskrit

Chapter 8:   Assault on Tantra Tradition: Part-1, Part-2

Chapter 9:   Deconstructing The Psychology of Wendy Doniger and Children

Chapter 10: Hinduism Studies in the West: It's all about power

Chapter 11: Scholars should criticize but not define another’s religion

Chapter 12: Balagangadhara on the biblical underpinnings of secularism

Chapter 13: The children of colonial psychoanalysis: part 1, part-2

Chapter 14: Yuvraj Krishan on whether Siva-Ganesa fight is Oedipal conflict

Chapter 15: Yvette Rosser - Kripal on the couch in Calcutta

Chapter 16: Prejudice in Hinduism studies: The case of Microsoft Encarta: Part-1, Part-2

Chapter 17: An Independent Review of Paul Courtright's book on Ganesa - Part-1, Part-2, Part-3, Part-4, Part-5,

Read 'Invading The Sacred' Online

ITS Video section

1. Book Launch

2. Ajit Gulabchand at Book Launch

Petitions are alright but much more is needed

I saw a petition by a group of pro-Hindu scholars giving their critique of the leftists. I signed it even though I was not asked to be involved in drafting it or even made aware of it ahead of time. But I also posted the following comment:

"I have spent the past 25 years on a full-time basis to pursue this research and writing that would correct our history. Scholars on our wavelength need to come together not just in petitions, but also in the kurukshetra supporting those among us who fight the tough battles with their necks sticking out, and without any official support or protection."

In private emails I explained that it is not enough to complain in the abstract about "those people". Why have our people not produced book-length purva-paksha on "those leftists" one by one? There is little game-changing impact long term by merely putting out short pieces that have a limited shelf life. Take the top few scholars on the other side, and each deserves a comprehensive response point by point. Each such book ought to be designed to ignite a debate on that particular scholar's work and provide ammunition for our side. Why is this not being done by more scholars?

'Invading the Sacred' did this type of analysis, and Vishal has followed up with a subsequent one of his own. BI, IN and my forthcoming book each takes on a mighty opponent cabal and gives my responses in considerable detail. Shourie did this in his book 'Eminent Historians' - he took a few top Indian historians by name, and went through their writings in detail, quoting specific issues and giving his responses. Why have more Hindu scholars not done this?

To topple a hegemonic discourse that has become established and robust, one must do heavy lifting scholarship. This is very hard work, requires personal risk and sacrifice. It cannot be muddled up with political correctness or "feeling good". The kurukshetra involved very heavy weaponry and dont go to battle with small arms.

On top of this, when someone like me does this kind of work, I find myself alone and often sidelined rather than supported. Why is that? Instead, people who ought to support me bring me "homework" to do this or that task, as if I am a Google-driven drone waiting to get commands I must respond to.

Worst of all, there are isolated camps of Hindu scholars each doing their own thing, often excluding each other. There are both individual rivalries as well as certain institutions that have a policy of excluding those who are not formal members of their "group-think" apparatus.

A prominent BJP leader (anonymous) spoke with me yesterday that he has examined how the Congress over the past 50 years evolved and mastered a complex and sophisticated mechanism to nurture intellectuals on their side. They even supported writers who are not officially affiliated with them, but whose ideology is broadly aligned. They had multiple forums, platforms and mechanisms, some official but many unofficial, to create a large army of intellectual kshatriyas on their side. He said that when he tried explaining this to his party, there was no appreciation for such a need, much less any commitment to do this. It seems our people want the result and output, but are not investing in the trees that bear such fruits.

He also pointed out that Congress not only tolerated dissent by free thinking intellectuals, but in fact actively encouraged many views just to create a vibrant atmosphere (or at least make it seem so). A non-researcher/writer is never respected as a leader by others who are solid researchers. Its like only a medical doctor can lead a medical establishment, only a military man can lead an army. Appointing political ideologues to run intellectual movements is what is being tried again and again, but this always fails.

So a solid purva-paksha of the leftist side must also examine their formal and informal institutional mechanisms. This is much harder work than making a few speeches, blogs and petitions.

Also, I find some of the "activists" involved in our movements to be working on both sides. One of them saw me at a literary fest last year, and walked away because various leftist scholars were present in the lounge. Later, he approached me very privately when nobody was watching, and apologized. He said he did not want to "alienate the mainstream" by seeming "controversial". I find this disgusting, and told him to get lost. Another similar person I had approached this past summer when I was being unfairly accused, and he wrote back saying that "it is not my style to get involved in public", but that privately in his heart he was with me. This is hypocrisy and duplicity. Yet such persons line up to be counted as pro-Hindu activists when it suits their interest. Many are merely mercenaries looking for the latest travel sponsorship or other form of patronage. In this respect they are the same as the leftists - opportunism taking priority.

I propose the following principles as discussion points to bring our intellectual voices together in a constructive manner:

There should be a Hindu Literary Festival (maybe with a better name) held annually, where all pro-Hindu scholars (and some purva-pakshins we have criticized) get invited. Nobody with serious credentials as a writer should be excluded. Note that "literary" means these ought to be producers of knowledge in extensive written works, not celebrities, netas, speech-makers, or old guard who are not active producers now. A few celebrity/neta names are ok to include so as to attract media attention, but not too many. This line of work should become professionalized and not some loose hobby to "feel good".
The core home team must consist of researchers and writers with a proven track record. Then come bloggers and mouse-clicking activists, and others in the parade. But dont let this latter category upstage the researchers-writers, because any intellectual movement must be founded on tough scholarship and not on self-serving noise-making.
Like NATO in military and the leftist scholars in the intellectual battlefield, there must be a pact that an attack on any one in the core team is an attack against all. Everyone must be required to stick their necks out and fight back. Every army worth its salt has a policy not to leave a wounded soldier behind, no matter what the cost to protect him. Otherwise morale would be low and everyone would be risk averse, fearing that if he got hit then his own cohorts will abandon him. An army that abandons its own wounded will surely lose. I felt like an abandoned wounded soldier last summer when I had to call fellow Hindu writers and almost beg for support. There was no standing support system like the leftists have. When I fight at great risk and cost to my personal life, everyone wants to share in the results, and they even claim credit. But when its their turn to help me, many of them refuse. (I am grateful to the large number who DID help me. I am referring to the larger number who refused, by citing various excuses.) I have faced this type of betrayal numerous times in the past 25 years. This is why I do not trust certain people, even if they publicly pretend to be great dharmic/nationalistic people.
Collectively we must try to produce 5 solid books annually that are each a purva-paksha on a prominent opponent individual, school of thought or institution. Maybe we will start with fewer in the initial years, but we can grow our quality and capacity. Each such book requires a long term research project by whosoever takes it up. Important to avoid "quick" works that we already have too many of. Each such book is a milestone that must be supported by our community in various ways. Otherwise, you are not nurturing the hard working type of person we badly need on our side.
Let us have a Hindu Writers Guild. These would be folks who may not necessarily be writing book-length research works (yet), but who commit to write 5-10 articles/blogs annually as part of their team work. Every few months we would pick an important issue or topic of relevance, and the members of the guild would each write in their own name and voice to contribute to it. Besides posting these on mainstream media outlets to the extent possible, these would also get compiled on a special site we would maintain with a professional web management team. Look at the big stories we faced in 2015. How little coordinated writing there was. Contrast this with the way the leftists put out a tsunami of media presence in each case. We have random individuals while they have experienced organizations. We must learn from them in this regard.
Develop a formal consensus on the minimum set of positions we share in order to be members. In other words, what is the common set of ideological positions required ti be an "insider"? I find that too often we base our evaluation on someone's personality and being "a nice person", rather than on a substantial position. (For instance, 2 years back a major book whose ideological positions would fail my core requirements, was promoted across India by a prestigious Hindu body. They had not done due diligence. When I pointed out the serious issues, it created animosity towards me, and hence they continue to avoid me. Our movement is too much a matter of being in the good books of gatekeepers. This should change to ideological alignment and not personal relations.)

We do not have broad forums for such meta-level discussions. Reacting to one episode at a time does not comprise strategy. It is fire-fighting at best. Please note that my intentions in writing this are constructive. It is because I deeply care and I am so thoroughly invested in this cause that I write this way. I hope there wont be petty personal attacks on me by Hindus who feel we cannot have such brainstorms openly. Such closed minded attitudes are what alienate serious intellectuals. We are on solid ground given the strength of our civilization. This type of discussion is what the purva-paksha tradition is meant to do for us.

Hitchhiker's Guide to Rajiv Malhotra's Works

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A Report on Swadeshi Indology Conference-2

Wendy Doniger's 'Grandchildren' mobilized to lead Hinduphobia - with NRI funding

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