Rajaram's bull

[Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan]

In his 1995 work, "The Politics of History", Rajaram included virtually the
same piece as given in the earlier posting with some very minor
modifications. The last sentence, however, was replaced with the following.

<<What the European missionaries saw as stubborn obstructionism was from the
Indian perspective preservation of its culture and age old traditions under
extremely adverse conditions. The preservation of the Vedas in their pristine
form for over five thousand years is without a doubt the greatest feat in the
history of preservation, an achievement for which the much maligned Brahmins
deserve a great deal of credit. And they could not have achieved a minute
fraction of this had they not enjoyed the support and patronage of other
segments of the population. It is absurd to now claim that all other
communities were implacably hostile to Brahmins who held them in an iron
grip. This is no more than a residue of missionary propaganda. As a miniscule
minority, Brahmins would have faced annihilation. They were always dependent
upon the goodwill and patronage of the rulers and the people at large. The
fact of the matter is: the ruling classes have always defended and supported
the Brahmins. Alien forces - Muslim invaders in Medieval India and
missionaries during the colonial era - always attacked the Brahminical base
of Hinduism first. Without the heroic defense and support of Brahmins by
other communities, the Brahmins along with the rest of Hinduism would have
perished long ago. Indian historians refuse <sic> recognize this elementary
fact and keep on repeating nineteenth century missionary propaganda in their
'scholarly' work.>> (p. 103-104)


Regards
S. Palaniappan