There is also this (apologies for stealing this line from a reply to another thread about rape in India):
https://thewire.in/religion/the-many-criticisms-of-rama-and-the-anger-of-the-hindu-right
Again, if I may put my two cents in, this is clearly a political, not a scholarly discussion. For what is worth, I think that every
scholar has the right to interpret any kind of text in any way she or he wants and if somebody is offended by this interpretation, that’s not the scholar’s problem. In this specific case, the only question to be asked in my opinion is whether the interpretation
and rendering of this passage is sound and not anachronistic. I do think for instance that the concept of misogyny applied to this Ramayana passage is completely anachronistic and thus this interpretation is not sound, but at the same time I do not really
understand the problem in criticizing Rama’s behaviour, whatever the choice of words. Let’s call this issue for what it really is, namely the umpteenth attempt of right-winged Hindu supporters to silence any possible interpretation of sacred texts that is
in contrast with their own interpretation. This is what really scares me and I believe that all of us should be really scared and outraged reading the reactions to Audrey Truschke’s tweet, they are awful.
Best wishes,
Camillo
Dr Camillo A. Formigatti
John Clay Sanskrit Librarian
Bodleian Libraries
The Weston Library
Broad Street, Oxford
OX1 3BG
Email:
camillo.formigatti@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Tel. (office): 01865 (2)77208
www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk
GROW YOUR MIND
in Oxford University’s
Gardens, Libraries and Museums
From: Nagaraj Paturi [mailto:nagarajpaturi@gmail.com]
Sent: 27 April 2018 05:06
To: Indology <INDOLOGY@list.indology.info>
Subject: [INDOLOGY] Discussion on Sita being made into a rabid feminist to call him a 'pig'
Some of you might be interested in
https://swarajyamag.com/culture/the-scholar-whom-audrey-truschke-cites-finds-her-tweet-shocking
--
Nagaraj Paturi
Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.
BoS, MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, Maharashtra
BoS, Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth, Veliyanad, Kerala
Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies
FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of Liberal Education,
(Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA )