Resist!

[Lars Martin Fosse]

"N. Ganesan" wrote:

> Before we Indians wear the hats of the Hindu(tva) version
> of bible preachers on Sunday TV and start our ridicules
> and rhetorics when we hear theories like IVC is most likely
> Dravidian with Sanskrit playing an insignificant role or that RV
> is likely to date from (say) 1200 BCE, readings like
> a) O. Chadwick, The secularization of the European mind
> in the 19th century and b) Voltaire's Bastards, etc.,
> will be a help.
>
> I think renaissance, reformation, enlightenment of
> Hinduism has a long way to go.

I feel like tagging along here. Secularisation is certainly a very
important word here, because debating with die-hard Christians in my own
country is not much different from debating with the Hindutva crowd. As
far as I can see, there are two things we can do: 1) enligheten each
other about our various views in a civilized manner, and 2) agree to
disagree. A scholarly discussion is NOT a public political meeting. I
found Shrisha Rao's last posting valuable because it did precisely what
it should do: It told me WHY he disagrees, and WHAT he believes is
correct. I do not have to agree with him to appreciate that. It is much
of the other stuff I can do without. I have read enough Hindutva prose
to get weary when I for the umpteenth time am told that Western
Indologists are ignoramuses, have nasty political agendas and are
racists to boot. There is a serious misrepresentation of Western
Indology in some quarters that partly seems to be due to ignorance, but
sadly also often to be wilful attempts at disqualifying Western scholars
generally in moral terms, so that one can dispense with the whole
debate.

Lars Martin Fosse