Indology's Future?

[Artur Karp]

>3. Maybe it is time ask Western scholars to curtail, indeed extinguish, their
>interest in non-Western cultures and histories, and let each group write its
>own history the way it thinks is appropriate or truthful. Maybe Western
>scholars should be asked to get out of our arena and be concerned with only
>their own histories. Indeed this is already happening.

Dear Dr. Raman,

May I ask on what grounds do you base your conviction that once
Western scholars leave your arena, the process you seem to advocate
wouldn't go on - ad infinitum?

Having obtained the right to exclude others from their fields, what is
there to stop
scholars representing the X-area in India from asking the Y-area scholars
to curtail,
indeed extinguish, their interest in X-area culture and history, and demand
each group write its own history the way it thinks is appropriate or truthful?

One can envision several such scenarios, with divides along ethnic,
cultural or
political lines.  All of them highly uninteresting - all the more that in some
of them (see Amarjit Singh's letter, Wed, 15 Nov 2000 ), you Sir, might find
yourself amongst the excluded.

With regards,

Artur Karp
University of Warsaw
Poland