[INDOLOGY] Regarding Further Clarifications on the WSC Forum

[Walter Slaje]

„The mountain is certainly hard to move ...“, but sometimes solving a
seemingly difficult problem can be easier achieved than the crushing of a
flower, to apply a maxim from the *Mokṣopāya* by analogy.



Getting down to the root of the trouble leads one directly to the overt
Hindu-nationalist turn of the IASS, mirrored, e.g., in the witch-hunt with
Pollock as a victim in 2016. What followed was predictable. On 1 March
2016, I had posted the below message to this list:



„it might be of some relevance to the community of Indologists that among
the prominent signatories of the Pollock removal petition Prof. V. Kutumba
Sastry ranks fifth on top of the list:

https://www.change.org/p/mr-n-r-narayana-murthy-and-mr-rohan-narayan-murty-removal-of-prof-sheldon-pollock-as-mentor-and-chief-editor-of-murty-classical-library



That Prof. Kutumba Sastry signed this petition in his capacity of the
„President, International Association of Sanskrit Studies” (IASS), has
meanwhile attracted the attention of also the media, who specifically
single out his name and function:

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/murty-library-editor-petition-wants-us-scholar-removed-cites-jnu-remarks/

http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2016/03/01/sheldon-pollock-murty-lib_n_9345928.html



In terms of Indological research, it is perhaps of no little significance
that the President of the IASS - a leading organization carrying
“International” as part of their name and arranging the "World Sanskrit
Conference" on a regular basis - publicly supports the text of the debated
petition in full and demands, among others, “Make in India” ethics and
“Swadeshi Indology” in contexts of research and academic publications
guidelines. Trying to be “international” and “swadeshi” at the same time
clearly equals a contradiction in terms.



The IASS ought to state their position in this matter by clarifying if, in
promoting nationalist ideas of Indological research, their president is
acting on their behalf:

http://www.sanskritassociation.org/board-members.php.”





In the absence of an acceptable reply, the Indological Branch in the German
Oriental Society (DMG) decided to quit the IASS, as explained in minute
detail by their present spokesman Dr Steiner in one of his previous posts.



A feasible way to safeguarding future WSC’s from the negative impact of an
ever increasing Hindu nationalist influx would be to unbundle the WSC from
the IASS. An independently organised WSC will regain and control their
autonomy. On the other hand, bereft of the WSC the IASS lose their
"International" aspect and with it the justification of bearing an “I” in
their name. The logically following gradual transformation into a “National
Association of Sanskrit Studies” (NASS) would in every respect be no less
deserved then befitting.


The little effort required on the part of serious scholars interested in
Sanskrit research free of Hindu nationalist ideology consists in cancelling
their membership in the IASS with immediate effect. This and only this will
make them think.



An unfailing measure of this kind has been proposed by Dr Steiner in the
form of a private communication, from which to quote I have been authorised:



“The WSC is perceived as the biggest international conference on Sanskrit
Studies ("The World Sanskrit Conference is the premier international forum
for professional researchers and educators of the Sanskrit language and its
literatures, and of the history, religion, and cultures of premodern South
Asia." Source: "Main Conference Website" of the 17th WSC, Vancouver). In a
way, it is probably the most visible symbol of these studies at present.
The bond between these conferences is the "IASS, as the notional sponsor of
the different WSC meetings" (Dominik Wujastyk). There may be further links
between these meetings. Rajiv

Malhotra was the keynote speaker of the WSC in Bangkok in 2015, personally
invited by the president of the IASS. In the run-up to the following WSC in
Vancouver, it was heard that the local organizers wanted to make it better,
and I am sure that they succeeded in doing so.

My point is that the individual WSCes are not insulated entities that have
nothing to do with each other. It is decisive, that they are not perceived
that way, regardless of their actual "ontological" status.



Moreover, the WSC is the (only) flagship of the IASS. The relationship of
the IASS to the anti-academic ideology of a "Swadeshi Indology" is still to
be clarified, despite our demand (already in 2016) for taking up position
here. Any potential organizing committee of a WSC is expected to account to
oneself for the question whether they think it acceptable under these
circumstances to organize a conference under the auspices of the IASS. One
way to react [...] is to clearly disassociate oneself from this present-day
IASS and to name our reasons for this decision. We do not need the IASS to
organize an international Sanskrit conference.”



Warm wishes, and kind regards,

Walter Slaje


-----------------------------
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Walter Slaje
Hermann-Löns-Str. 1
D-99425 Weimar
Deutschland

Ego ex animi mei sententia spondeo ac polliceor
studia humanitatis impigro labore culturum et provecturum
non sordidi lucri causa nec ad vanam captandam gloriam,
sed quo magis veritas propagetur et lux eius, qua salus
humani generis continetur, clarius effulgeat.
Vindobonae, die XXI. mensis Novembris MCMLXXXIII.


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