Deciphered!!! (was: Harappan Deciphered?!)

[Shrisha Rao]

On Sat, 15 Jul 2000, Arun Gupta wrote:

> Perhaps the list might be interested in the effect of their arguments on the
> Hindu layperson, e.g., me.

I think many Indologists truly do not understand the depth of the
emotional reaction against some of their pronouncements, and perhaps are
less concerned about political correctness or social acceptance than are
many other researchers in the social sciences.  (In this regard, I recall
a remark made to me some years ago that the IVC/AIT thesis is most
vigorously put forth by European scholars rather than by Americans, with
the point being that America is multi-ethnic and tolerant of diverse
values to a far greater extent than is Europe; American academics are far
more sensitive to cultural/race issues because of America's own tortured
history in this respect, and the corrective pressures towards civil
rights, racial justice, &c., in contemporary American society.  It would
be an interesting study of the meta-issues to look into this in some
depth, and study the effect, if any, a researcher's own background has on
his/her choice of subjects -- surely it cannot be argued that there is no
effect at all.)

However, although this may be an interesting point, it does not do
anything to invalidate the mainstream position, and in fact, it is
arguably the case that being unaware or unheeding of emotional reactions
is definitely a virtue, since it permits one to decide the issues
unencumbered by concerns about political or social correctness.  The risk
in this, of course, is that small-minded men will seek to isolate and
destroy such independent scholarship (cf. the recent decision of the BORI
to deprive some members of voting rights), but that can't be helped.

> So, while I have little trust in the scholarship of the Hindutva folks, I
> have lost trust in the "mainstream" scholars as well.

That, perhaps, is the biggest rub.  While Mr. Elst appears to be so
deranged from normal scholarly behavior that nothing worthwhile could ever
be expected of him, it is surely as well for his critics to keep their
compos mentis.

Regards,

Shrisha Rao

> -arun gupta