Banning Foreign Scholars in India.

[Gail Coelho]

Just to keep record straight -- I didn't forward this article -- I replied
to the list after someone forwarded it.

Gail Coelho

At 04:34 PM 9/13/99 -0700, you wrote:
>From Gail coelho's forwarded article from the EPW:
>
>> >It bagan in the 1970s when T N Kaul was ambassador to the US. There was a
>>sharp decline in the grant of visas to American scholars to visit India
>>Coinciding as it did with the US resumption of links with China, it led to
>>a significant diminution of interest in India.>>
>
>Oh really! where exactly did the EPW guys get this from? What the dear souls
>fail to understand is that America has invested a lot of money in trying to
>understand countries which are inimical to it as opposed to "friendly"
>countries. Note that they invested tons of money on Russian studies thru out
>the cold war but this seems to have vanished post 1991. Likewise thru the
>70s, they didn't care much about Iran
>(when the Shah was around) but promptly jumped in after Khomeini came to
>power.
>
>Last year, Prof Ashutosh Varshney( Dept of Govt, Harvard U) was refused
>tenure because of a lack of interest in Indian Studies. At that time, I
>remember reading that there had been a steady lack of interest in Indian
>studies since the second world war..not sure of where this 70s figure comes
>from..
>
>
>> >I had then remarked in this column: "Presumably a judge of the US Supreme
>>Court visiting India will not be allowed to deliver a talk explaining the
>>Bakke case, on positive discrimination in favour of the Blacks and its
>>aftermath because it might have a bearing on the 'politically sensitive'
>>issue of reservations.>>
>
>You've got to be kidding...If they get Clarence Thomas to tell them why you
>shouldn't have affirmative action, half a dozen parties that
>I know will want the Bharat Ratna to be given to him...
>
>
>
>Krishna
>
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