Santosh, It appears I am not a woman of my word. I said you could have the last one and I take that back. First off, I haven't attacked you, I have merely pointed out a reality as I see it - realities maybe distorted. That your particular biases are very obvious in any discussion and your claims to neutrality wear thin. And please spare us the histrionics of how you are being attacked by everyone and how boorish goanet is as a forum. I didn't know who or what Rajiv Malhotra was but I know a stink when I smell one. I don't know how and I don't know why but I have an inbuilt radar for stink, especially of the communal sort which carries the seeming whiff of wordy scholarship but is laced with saffron. So I did a bit of checking on Malhotra and it turns out every article of his is about how the West and Abrahamic religions are harmful to the world and intolerant as opposed to Hinduism. Then I read what others have to say about this so-called inter-faith guru. And here is something very interesting. A frontline article called Non-resident nationalism speaks of Hindus based in America who support far right activities, the Hindutva ideology of supremacy and the insidous ways they operate to spread their message, says this about his initiatives: http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2106/stories/20040326005212700.htm "Anti-Hindu bias" has been declared a major problem in the West, as if this were a concerted interest on the part of the latter. "Eurocentrist" historians and "Marxist-Indian" scholars are claimed to resort to negative stereotypes against Hindus on a systematic basis. Organisations such as the American Hindu Anti-Discrimination League have targeted specific professors whom they accuse of faulty and insulting treatment of Hindu culture. Sangh members ensure that they are on the mailing lists of university seminars and lecture series, lobbying for more pro-Hindu speakers and arriving in large numbers to heckle and catcall selected professors whom they have designated as anti-Hindu. At a recent screening of a documentary on Gujarat at Barnard College in New York last year, the campus police had to be summoned to escort Sangh activists away for disorderly conduct on private premises. Organisations such as the Infinity Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey, set up by a wealthy entrepreneur Rajiv Malhotra, are energetic in seeking to influence student perspectives on Hindu culture, both by direct outreach and by volunteering for teacher-training workshop programmes in city school districts." The more I dug, the worse the situation became. It seems Malhotra was at the head of the Doniger controversy and infact whipped it into a frenzy. You can read a Washington post article on this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?contentId=A334-2004Apr9&pagename=article
This is what Doniger has to say about Malhotra: "Doniger blames the Internet campaigns. "Malhotra's ignorant writings have stirred up more passionate emotions in Internet subscribers who know even less than Malhotra does, who do not read books at all," Doniger wrote in an e-mail. "And these people have reacted with violence. I therefore hold him indirectly responsible." It turns out that Malhotra is indeed a hot-favourite, blue-eyed boy for the far-right and often quoted by them. Here is a quote of what Malhotra himself has to say (although he denies being party to any far-right ideology in the same article). "Meanwhile, Indian Marxists and Macaulayites—born again as 'progressives' after the Cold War—dominate India's academe, and often power broker and become strategic allies with western academicians as experts on India. But there are many contradictions in these intellectual sepoys: (i) While many are Subalternists, India's masses, classics and culture are often alien to them, and they disrespect and caricaturize Hinduism in a reductionist Eurocentric way." http://www.barnard.edu/religion/defamation/malhotra.htm So given the taint that Malhotra carries (and you would have known this Santosh) and given your penchant for checking sources, verifying their validity, etc, I am surprised how you didn't make us aware of Malhotra's viewpoint but instead chose to defend him. The two others supporters of Malhotra are Rajan and Barad on goanet. Does that surprise anyone? Now, I've wasted enough of my time. I have a Gauguin exhibition to attend and get back to the Western culture which I am so enthralled by. Best, Selma
