RMF Summary: Week of May 30 - June 5, 2011

May 30 
Fw: correction
'The Absent Hero in Lord Meghnad Desai's Narrative' Dr. Vijaya Rajiva (Haindava Keralam,29/05/2011) Two recent books, one by an historian of modern India and...

May 30

Western self-analysis always excuses itself.... Karigar posted this: Western self-analysis almost always excuses itself even while it (the US in this case) is busy breaking countries via a variety if interventions. Here's a review of a book [Liberal Leviathan: The Origins, Crisis, and Transformation of the American World Order . ISBN-10: 9780691125589] by G John Ikenberry (Princeton Professor of politics & Int' affairs)  ... Non-westerners (like most in the Indian intellectual class) are being extremely naive in taking this benign self-image of the West at face value. Per review (at http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/ME28Dj01.html ): [Reviewer uses some Leftist categories to analyse, but still makes key critical points] ... May 30 DICCI - Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industries Yesterday I came across DICCI - 'Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industries '. The About Us page provides below info about the organization- "Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI) was established in the year 2005 to instil the spirit of entrepreneurship among dalit youth and to empower them ... This appears to be a genuine group. More learned members may please comment on it. Just curious if Rajivji has included this somewhere in Breaking India... May 30 Church of South India Bishops meet CM of TN, Jayalalitha Interestingly it is a John Malhotra reporting for Christian today website. Church has made deep penetrations in Punjab in recent years. CSI Bishops greet TN... May 30 This is a very important thread and a real success story where intellectual activism by dedicated Hindus forced a change in the terribly biased discourse, and allowed readers to see both sides of the story.  Thanks to you: Backtracking by Outlook magazine Rajiv Malhotra: In an unprecedented move (especially when it comes to dharma), Outlook magazine has printed excerpts from 19 critics of its review. After that these, also printed in a box a portion of my letter to them. This shows clearly the importance of intellectual activism, and not letting injustice continue unchallenged. To those who wrote to me in a defeatist way asking that I should simply ignore the horrible review, to those who said things like why give our opponents undue importance, and to those gave excuses for not wanting to write, I hope this example will serve to inspire future action by them. To those who wrote to Outlook, whether their letter was selected to be printed or not, I send my sincere thanks for the support. May 31 This is another must-read thread. Sandeep Balakrishna, the firebrand Indic scholar, historian, and writer who also manages the very popular "Rediscovery of India" blog, interviews Rajiv Malhotra. My Interview with Sri Rajiv Malhotra Sandeep: Hello all, This is my first post here. Last week, I had the fortune to do an email interview of Sri Rajiv Malhotra about Breaking India, ... You can also read the entire interview on Sandeepweb. June 2 Facebook discussion on Breaking India Dear Friends I came across this site on facebook discussin Breaking India book. Are there others in facebook, orkut etc. Rare Book Society of India's Photos -... June 2 New York Times - Op Ed articles by Kristof Neeshabda posts: Op-Ed Columnist Nicholas D. Kristof "She is 10 and May Be Sold to a Brothel"  Slavery still exists, as reflected in the story of a 10-year-old Indian girl who wants to be a doctor but may be headed for a brothel. This is the second article in two weeks. The first one identified the 'International Justice Mission' as the group that asked Kristof to go with them. If you goggle the IJM, you will see that they are a Washington DC based christian mission. The IJM and the use of 'slavery' are the two key words that Rajiv Malhotra has been talking about. I had written a letter to NYTIMES after the first article appeared. Not only my letter did not get published, this second in the series is out in print today. In the last article the girls were identified by their Hindu names, this time it's only an initial... June 2 Demanding libraries buy the Book Karthi has a great suggestion on how you can help: One way to ensure this book is available for reading is to ensure the pubic and academic library buy them. In most western nations a request could be made and is usually procured. I would not advise "donating the book" as this looses its value and the book has greater chances reaching the shelf if a purchase request/demand is made. I have made a request in 1 Academic library and 2 local libraries and an order has already been placed... June 5 Christianizing Bharatanatayam - Excerpt from "Breaking India" ...We have permission from the authors to cull small exerpts from the book periodically and release it to the Internet... June 5 This is an important post by Rajiv Malhotra that talks about scientific results that further solidify the thesis of 'Breaking India', while exposing the agenda of vested interests. Genetics report on the origin of Indians "The story of our origins" Open Magazine, May 28, 2011. EXCERPTS FROM THE CONCLUSION: "The first thing that the evidence suggests is that the origins of Hartosh's R1a1 haplogroup lie in India. Thus, a large part of Central Asia, Southern Russia, Ukraine onwards to the Czech Republic may well be populated by a 15,000-year-old migration from India. Given the timeframe of the origins of the R1a1 haplogroup in India, it is important to note that this does not rule out a subsequent re-entry of people from Central Asia bearing this marker into India at a much later date. As further sub-lineages of Hartosh's R1a1 are studied, it may well be possible to answer even this question. The second part of their conclusions rests on the fact that the proportion of R1a1 in some Brahmin groups such as those of West Bengal is as high as 72 per cent. This indicates that the origins of Brahmins as a caste may well lie in the R1a1 haplogroup. But since the antiquity of the Ra1a haplogroup in tribals such as Central India's Sahariyas is older than it is among Brahmins, it is reasonable to believe that Brahmins may not be entrants from outside but may have originated as a caste from the tribal population of this country." Another article that discusses this report is here. June 5 Seva Bharathis new news Finally, There seems to be a nationalistic news website opened now by Seva bharathi

RMF Summary: Week of May 23 - 29, 2011

May 23

Pioneering writings of Maharishi(Swami) Dayananda Saraswati (1824-18 *Pioneering writings of Maharishi(Swami) Dayananda Saraswati (1824-1883) in exploding the myth of Aryan Invasion Theory. Breaking India - an eye opener book... May 23 WSU's trust with conquering Aryans Even in the face of mounting genetic evidence that goes against any Aryan invasion (or euphemistic migration), Washington State University carries a website... May 23 two articles that support the book's thesis The Kerala Government (LDF) has an ongoing archeological project which will seek to establish that there was a pre Hindu past in Kerala which was overcome by a... May 23 The same nexus is manipulating the UN standing of various human righ Forwarded message from V. K. Missionaries land a sucker punch: NHRC may be downgraded India's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has been dealt a blow by... May 23 Short story with the theme of Christian appropriation of Bharatanatyam I have written a Tamil short story 'Taandavam' that artistically exposes this issue for a wide range of audience. The story is told the form of a self...

May 23 Some Inculturation strategies to convert Hindus This quote is very telling: " Communicate the gospel through indigenous methods such as bhajans, drama, dialogue, discourse, Indian music, festival... May 24 An article from Tehelka Posted by Sameer: "Preparing for the harvest" A new mood of aggressive evangelism has been emanating from America. Well-funded, superbly networked, backed by the highest... May 24 Rajiv Malhotra's Letter to Outlook magazine May 19, 2011 To: Mr. Vinod Mehta, Editor,Outlook Magazine This is with reference to the review of the book Breaking India in your magazine. The review blatantly falsifies many hard facts about the book that could be missed only if one did not actually read it. The reviewer brands the authors as "Yankee Hindutva", a trite slogan to sensationalize, without giving any basis other than her rash (and false)judgment that NRI's are outside the US power structure. Furthermore, she dishonestly ignores that one of the co-authors has lived in Tamil Nadu (where much of the book is located) all his life, and has been working on the groundw ith marginalized rural communities... May 24 Book Review-Panchajanyam Tamil Religious monthly January 2011. Book Review Panchajanyam Tamil Religious monthly January 2011. By "SriVaishnava Sri"A.Krishnamachari,M.A.(Public Admn.),M.A.(Tamil),M.A.(Sociology) Editor,... May 25 Sandeep's rejoinder: "Gita Ramaswamy's Assault on Intelligence" Rajeev Malhotra posts an article by the brilliant and fearless Hindu scholar and historian, Sandeep Balakrishna: Gita Ramaswamy's Assault on Intelligence that responds to Gita's review and notes that Gita Ramaswamy is author of the book, "Stinking India." See review here. May 25 Fw: [breakingindia] Jesuits exporting Christian inculturation of Bharatanatyam This is quite an important thread with some critical feedback from Indians about what is going on in their local backyard, so we cover this in depth and urge readers to read the full thread.   Vijaya Rajiva notes: "This dancer who quietly introduced Christian themes at the end is doing something similar to the female dancer (mentioned in Breaking India) who is the head of the Kalakshetra (Chennai). She got around to having the statue of Ganesha removed from performances etc., all this after having successfully established herself. This all is in contrast to the famed singer Jesudasan, popular both in North and South India, but especially in Kerala. He sings both popular film music(many of the films had him doing the playback singing) and Carnatic music. All his songs are about Hindu deities. He goes regularly to Moogambi to worship Goddess Sarasvati who is the main deity there. Two years ago when E.Ahmed (Railways Minister) said at a public meeting that lighting of Hindu lamps should be forbidden at public functions, Jesudasan got up and left the meeting in protest. " Rina adds: " I think we ought to make a distinction between Christians ( and Muslims) who continue to respect and revere Hindu deities and rituals and those who choose to learn part of what we do and then denigrate the same. The former includes people like the later Ustad Bismillah Khan who believed in Goddess Kali as his muse, and guardian deity, and invoked her before every performance. Jesudasan also apparently belongs to this category. " George makes some very important points: "I am surprised by the number of people who are shocked by the recent Christian tactic - the Christu Natyam. In fact this padre has been wriggling around for some years now. The majority of the old Christian hymns in Malayalam has been parodies of Hindu hymns. In fact when one considers a professional organisation such as the Catholic Church, absolutely and completely devoted to do these things, can only come up with these not-so-subtle, shoddy counterfeits, one could even say they are utterly incompetent in their enterprise. The Christian religion is the first and foremost copycat of all time and the Catholic Church commands the flagship. Not only Christmas and Easter (derived from the Moon goddess Aster) are counterfeits, there is absolutely nothing original in this religion or faith, except of course the "original sin". What more can you expect from these guys?..." TCG recalls: "Last week I saw a poster which read thus: "Prajapati";The Messiah of the Cross. So now the Christian Church is trying to appropriate our "Prajapati" also!" Karigar comments: "It seems quite a simple matter really. It is more about institutions & their goals than about specific individuals. While one could even give a benefit of doubt to the person of this dancer Dr. Saju (who IS a Jesuit priest of Calcutta Province, per article) that he may have all the reverence we hindus may want of him; the point is the motivation behind him introducing Biblical themes into a supposed Bharatanatyam preformance..." The final word goes to George: "I am also not surprised by the attempted appropriation of Prajapati. In the early 90s, when the notorious Divine Retreat Centre at Muringoor was becoming popular, in a bid to woo Hindus, the centre hired one Aravindaksha Menon who used to preach regularly on behalf of the centre that the "son" who is mentioned as "sacrificed" in the Purushasuktham was Jesus Christ. They have done all that could be done and still trying again..." The next thread appears to be a virtual continuation of the previous one. May 25 Jesuits exporting Christian inculturation of Bharatnatyam to China Kaajal adds: "I wasn't really aware of inculturation until I read Breaking India and some of Rajiv's writings. But here is an example....shocking, in your face, the same spineless reporters who dare not comment on this as if it were the most natural thing in the world. when I read something like this and with the exception of a few like Rajiv who dares to speak out, I lose my esteem for my fellow Indians. are we such a bunch of pushovers?... ... http://www.thehindu.com/arts/dance/article2034 Steps of devotion Ambili Ramnath Reverend Dr. Saju George's performance presented the nritta and the natya aspects of Bharatanatyam..." GSK demands: "This is plain unashamed copying and imitation. Why should these converters imitate and copy our temple customs and rituals ? Why should massive conversion gangs roam all over our country trying to bribe, lure and intimidate Hindus into converting to this desert religion ?.." Viji provides more links: You have kalakshetram which is pioneer in Bharatnatyam and now you have a " Kalaaksharam" .....This is the best example of Christian Bharatnatyam as a work of missionaries to inflitrate Hindu society and not our of some real love for our culture.. http://www.ranidevi.com/Default.aspx "Bharatanatyam dance academy since 1984 hundreds trained, graduation, arangetrams, competitions, etc. choreographed staged more than 500 dances traditional, patriotic, Christian themes..." The Christian dancer's vision and motivation? http://www.ranidevi.com/Vision.aspx ... "Of late I have been seeing a lot of enquires on dance pieces relating to Jesus or Christianity." ------ " There were some excellent followups in this thread. Pleaes read the thread in its entirety to get the full picture of how the social and cultural fabric of India is being systematically dismantled and replaced with cheap imitations. May  25 Arundhati Roy and Breaking India Roy has on more than one occasion openly spewed venom on the Indian nation. Ironically, she and her husband has been held guilty of unlawful occupation of... Here is the followup link. and another one. May 26 Afraid to read the book, dismiss it using Hindutva bogey Tattvaanveshanam notes: Mihir Sharma, a columnist for Indian Express, shares some of his thoughts on twitter:  Here's the screenshot:   May 27 Fw: Ongoing Pattanam excavations and missionary fabrications ... From: S. Kalyanaraman <kalyan97@...> Sent: Thu, May 26, 2011 6:06:28 AM Subject: Ongoing Pattanam excavations and missionary fabrications See also: ... May 28 LTTE influenced by DMK ideology!! N. S. Rajaram posts: This news was aired just half an hour ago (IST) on CNN-IBN. http://www.anhourago.in/show.aspx?l=8573073&d=502 Influenced by DMK ideology, LTTE killed Rajiv

RMF Summary: Week of May 16 - 22, 2011

May 16

Premendra - Comparing caste in India and Europe
Rajiv Malhotra provides a link: CASTE SYSTEM IN EUROPE (by Priyadarshi)

May 16

Numerous criticisms posted against Outlook review - at their web site Rajiv Malhotra responds to skewed Outlook review of BI: I went through the comments posted at the review site and the majority are direct in criticizing the review and reviewer. Below are a few samples of this:

...

My Comment on the Outlook book review I am sharing a long response I just posted to Gita Ramaswamy's review on Outlook India. If the moderators don't delete it, you will see it as Comment # 47... May 17 Shame on you Gita Ramaswamy and Shame on Outlook! Dear Editor, As an Indian settled in the USA for a few decades I used to look up to the articles from Outlook as a way of keeping up with India. I had also... May 17 Fw: [RISA-L LIST] Fw: Dalit Koenraad Elst posts:   Dear listfolk, Since the Religion In South Asia list is secret, I have deleted the names of the people whom I quote and reply to in the post reproduced below: .. ... From (a famous religious studies profesor): > Not to take sides in this discussion about the acceptability of the term "Dalit," but it should be noted that scholars in India have begun to use "Dalit" as a shorthand for Untouchables/Scheduled Castes of all sorts.< From (another famous religious studies profesor): >The reason I generally opt for "Dalit" rather than "Harijan," is precisely because I feel it has shed a lot of the political connotations it once had.  This is because the "Dalit" has come to be widely used by those who have no affiliation with Ambedkarite politics---for example, it seems to be the preferred term in India's English language media, as well as among scholars.  Like a lot of terms that were originally coined with some political intent (e.g. "gender," "African American") it has gradually shed these connotations as its usage has been mainstreamed.< ... Do read Rajiv Malhotra & Aravindan Neelakandan’s book *Breaking India*, about the machinations behind the Dalitist and Dravidianist discourse. Many of you have applauded Edward’s Said’s thesis on “Orientalism”, promoting distrust of the ulterior motives of Orientalist scholarship. This new book does the same job, only better and more pertinent to our own work. Whereas Said’s work focused on Islamic Studies, dealt with the past and was riddled with factual errors, Malhotra and Neelakandan’s work is thoroughly documented, fully up-to-date and focuses on Indian Studies. It traces the political entanglements of the trend-setting scholarship on India’s ethnic, religious and caste divisions.... May 17 Breaking India started with Gandhi Koenraad Elst, a member of this group, reviewed this book - it says here that Gandhi could have very well been the root cause of Christian incursion into modern day India. That he was partial to its theology is well known,... May 18 Gautam Sen's letter to Outlook Dear Editor, Book reviewers are free to express their opinions and prejudices though a modicum of acknowledgement when they are doing so would be appropriate.... May 18 'Breaking India' - Continuity N. S. Rajaram posts: The notorious USCIRF is being systematically and strategically encouraged by the 'Indian' American Christians... May 19 "Breaking India" book review by Rina Mukerji in d-sector.org The unholy mission is on By Rina Mukherji 18 May 2011 India has been under attack for more than a millennium. The wicked attempts to destroy its civilization and denigrate the beliefs of the natives continue unabated despite the nation achieving political independence from the Europeans after the painful partition. More and more researchers have begun to expose the evil intentions of the west For decades, texts and tomes published in the West have been bombarding us with theories that India is primarily made up of distinct `Aryan' and `Dravidian' racial strains, with the `tribals' and `dalits' comprising the other distinct groups. A lie, oft repeated, often comes to be accepted as the truth. strategy. And there is no dearth of educated Indians who are willing to advance this anti-India agenda in return for little material comforts and recognition.... May 19 Why India is a Nation The author of this article [Sankrant Sanu] also points out lot of points which Rajiv has pointed out in his book. ... May 19 Breaking India has a whole chapter on USCIRF Many folks have been recently circulating emails complaining about USCIRF. These are sporadic, short-lived flareups once in a while on this. Like all emotional... May 19 This thread elicited a lot of responses and has been covered in the previous week's summary. To make a long story short, Outlooks appears to have published a poor quality polemic by Gita Ramaswamy as a "book review", while also rejecting the submission by Vijaya Rajiva, upsetting a lot of BI readers. Outlook rejects Dr. Vijay Rajiva's book review and publishes a nasty http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?271815 This is not surprising but unprofessional - what else is new? May 19 In which the question: Who is Gita Ramaswamy appears to be answered, thereby perhaps revealing why her book "review" turned out the way it did. Gita Ramaswamy-Ashoka Fellow - What is ASHOKA-Take a look Ram Sidhaye investigates:  Gita Ramaswamy is Fellow at Ashoka. What is ASHOKA organization? The name Ashoka is deceptive. It is not an Indian organization. Take a look at Leadership Team, Senior Leadership, Board of Directors and Partners. Leadership Team Bill Drayton, C.E.O. and Founder ... May 20 Shri Ram Sidaye Ram Sidaye's research into Gita Ramaswamy's background and association with Ashoka is important. It reinforces chapter 15 in the book Breaking India. ...   May 20 Dr. Shrinivas Tilak's rejoinder to Outlook This has been posted by Shrinivas Tilak on Sulekha. Review of Breaking India by Gita Ramaswamy: a response by Dr Shrinivas Tilak* When I first heard of... May 21

Yankee Hindus Dear friends, I am yet to read ‘Breaking India.”. But I have read ‘Castes of the Mind’ by Prof.Nicholas Dirks of Columbia University, and know about...