dr. vijaya is a retired professor of philosophy from an actual university (unlike the pseudo-educational-institution -- sort of a tutorial college in indian terms -- that angana resides in and spews her venom from).
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Vijaya
Dear Dr. Chatterji,
Read with interest your Deposition to the Panigrahi Commission at Kandamahal dated June 3, 2008. This was shortly before the heinous murder of Swami Lakshmananda, the Hindu nuns and their associates, and that too in an Ashram, hitherto considered sacred ground.
No doubt the Hindu groups will already have replied to your Deposition.
Meanwhile, here is my assessment and my reflections on the topic.
Your field work relies mainly on your own interviews, some 50 of them.This is a type of petitio principi. Are you familiar with the local language ?
There is a repetitive , almost monotonous mention of Hindu majoritarianism and its alleged sins ( no documented evidence for the same) with the expected inveigling against Hindus and Hinduism (although you claim it is only against Hindutva). The fact that you go twice a year to India does not mean much, if your methodology is faulty, to begin with. It also troubles you that the Hindu groups had rathas (with figures of Hindu goddesses).
Rathas, ofcourse, are used routinely in all Hindu religious festivals. Nothing significant or sinister in that. The celebrations are usually large outdoor celebrations, as for instance in the recent Vinayaka Chaturthi celebrations all over India. They are not confined indoors ( as in mosques or churches ), even though the poojas are conducted inside a temple.
I do not know whether the Orissa government responded to your indictment of them for negligence in not avoiding the Kandamahal riots.
I have already talked about the needless stirring up of communal passions by the missionaries, whether this was their intention or not. Since Independence there has been a great deal of affirmative action on behalf of the Vanavasis (lovely word meaning forest dwellers; just like Gandhiji's observation that India lives in her villages).
Much more needs to be done. Neverthless, the intervention by missionaries , especially in the North Eastern states, has created a seccessionist movement there, because the majority population there is Christian. This is something that independent India, after the long night of invasions, conquests and Occupations, does not need.
You may be aware that in the last few weeks a think tank in Beijing has come out with the proposition that India should be divided into 30 nations.This, would no doubt suit China's great power ambitions. Ofcourse, the aim of the Taliban and jihadi movements in Pakistan is also the balkanisation of India, so that they hope to eventually convert the country into an Islamic caliphate.
Then there is Tamil Elam and so on and so forth. My point here is: wittingly or unwittingly there is an anti national dimension to your work.
India, ofcourse, was a colonised country and unlike the Western countries has not invaded any country. And has no intention of doing so. Does this mean that injustices within the country should go unchallenged ? Ofcourse not. But your own approach is highly partisan and prejudiced to start with. Not a good way to resolve anything.
Consequently, shrill condemnation of the country for being majoritarian Hindu is an ill wind. It is an unrealistic scenario.
Your Deposition does not have any class analysis either (you seem to have some Marxist background). Had you done that, you would have provided insight into the land disputes between the Hindu tribals and the Christian-convert tribals. Why should there have been this division between Hindus and Christians if it were not for the meddling of the Christian missionaries?
John Dayal with whom you teamed up in some of your other work, I learn from my research on the topic, is an Indian Christian and President of the All India Christian Council and United Christian Forum for Human Rights. He fights for the rights of Muslims, Christian and Dalit minorities in India, or so he claims.
He is associated with numerous Christian evangelical groups, such as Dalit Freedom Network. This latter org. grew out of the AICC's need to facilitate work in the U.S.
I read that they have been accused of misrepresenting the Dalit cause to suppress their MISSIONARY identity.
John Dayal has received awards. Neverthless, his own peers in the Indian Christian community have accused him of bad faith, opportunism, careerism and so on. See the 'Open Letter to John Dayal' from P.N.Benjamin, Co ordinator, Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue (BIRD).
I do not want to attribute ignoble motives to you. But I am puzzled by your very obvious 'hatred' of Hindu India and your lack of historical sense.
It could not be because of Marxist ideology. I myself have the highest regard for that world historical thinker and am very conversant with all of his works. Neverthless, I do not share your anti Hindu sentiment, even when I recognise that much work still needs to be done on the issues of caste etc.
Could it be that you have no acquaintance with Indian history, its culture or its philosophy ? You may have left California as a very young person ( if so some autodidactism on the subject, is called for). I have that knowledge, even though my own professional training is in Western thought.
Your biodata (provided by yourself) says that you are a secular person of Hindu descent, that you live in California. Does this simply mean that you are not a practising Hindu or does it mean that you are now a convert to Christianity ? This would explain your relentless upholding of the Christian missionary presence in India, despite mounting evidence of its negative results in India.
Or are you simply ignorant of what is going on, as for instance Ms. Setalvad is of the daily violence against Hindus within India , not to mention in Bangladesh. Or as in the case of Godhra, that it was not just a one time roasting alive of men, women and children in the train by Muslim mobs, that since the 1920s the Hindus have been attacked in Godhra. In my own native province of Kerala, memories are still alive of the slaughter of thousands of Hindus in the 1920s, after the ill starred Khilafat agitation.
It is a great disappointment to see educated, intelligent women such as yourself continuing to repeat shibboleths.
More importantly, this shortsightedness will only continue the suffering of the everyday Indian. As I said earlier, India will always be a majoritarian Hindu country, despite the most concerted efforts of Christian missionaries.
Your criticism should be targeted against them for instigating (with their ill conceived agenda) communal hatred. This will pave the way for your intelligent efforts at social reform.
Regards,
Dr. Vijaya
__________________________________________________________________
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From: Vijaya
Dear Dr. Chatterji,
Read with interest your Deposition to the Panigrahi Commission at Kandamahal dated June 3, 2008. This was shortly before the heinous murder of Swami Lakshmananda, the Hindu nuns and their associates, and that too in an Ashram, hitherto considered sacred ground.
No doubt the Hindu groups will already have replied to your Deposition.
Meanwhile, here is my assessment and my reflections on the topic.
Your field work relies mainly on your own interviews, some 50 of them.This is a type of petitio principi. Are you familiar with the local language ?
There is a repetitive , almost monotonous mention of Hindu majoritarianism and its alleged sins ( no documented evidence for the same) with the expected inveigling against Hindus and Hinduism (although you claim it is only against Hindutva). The fact that you go twice a year to India does not mean much, if your methodology is faulty, to begin with. It also troubles you that the Hindu groups had rathas (with figures of Hindu goddesses).
Rathas, ofcourse, are used routinely in all Hindu religious festivals. Nothing significant or sinister in that. The celebrations are usually large outdoor celebrations, as for instance in the recent Vinayaka Chaturthi celebrations all over India. They are not confined indoors ( as in mosques or churches ), even though the poojas are conducted inside a temple.
I do not know whether the Orissa government responded to your indictment of them for negligence in not avoiding the Kandamahal riots.
I have already talked about the needless stirring up of communal passions by the missionaries, whether this was their intention or not. Since Independence there has been a great deal of affirmative action on behalf of the Vanavasis (lovely word meaning forest dwellers; just like Gandhiji's observation that India lives in her villages).
Much more needs to be done. Neverthless, the intervention by missionaries , especially in the North Eastern states, has created a seccessionist movement there, because the majority population there is Christian. This is something that independent India, after the long night of invasions, conquests and Occupations, does not need.
You may be aware that in the last few weeks a think tank in Beijing has come out with the proposition that India should be divided into 30 nations.This, would no doubt suit China's great power ambitions. Ofcourse, the aim of the Taliban and jihadi movements in Pakistan is also the balkanisation of India, so that they hope to eventually convert the country into an Islamic caliphate.
Then there is Tamil Elam and so on and so forth. My point here is: wittingly or unwittingly there is an anti national dimension to your work.
India, ofcourse, was a colonised country and unlike the Western countries has not invaded any country. And has no intention of doing so. Does this mean that injustices within the country should go unchallenged ? Ofcourse not. But your own approach is highly partisan and prejudiced to start with. Not a good way to resolve anything.
Consequently, shrill condemnation of the country for being majoritarian Hindu is an ill wind. It is an unrealistic scenario.
Your Deposition does not have any class analysis either (you seem to have some Marxist background). Had you done that, you would have provided insight into the land disputes between the Hindu tribals and the Christian-convert tribals. Why should there have been this division between Hindus and Christians if it were not for the meddling of the Christian missionaries?
John Dayal with whom you teamed up in some of your other work, I learn from my research on the topic, is an Indian Christian and President of the All India Christian Council and United Christian Forum for Human Rights. He fights for the rights of Muslims, Christian and Dalit minorities in India, or so he claims.
He is associated with numerous Christian evangelical groups, such as Dalit Freedom Network. This latter org. grew out of the AICC's need to facilitate work in the U.S.
I read that they have been accused of misrepresenting the Dalit cause to suppress their MISSIONARY identity.
John Dayal has received awards. Neverthless, his own peers in the Indian Christian community have accused him of bad faith, opportunism, careerism and so on. See the 'Open Letter to John Dayal' from P.N.Benjamin, Co ordinator, Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue (BIRD).
I do not want to attribute ignoble motives to you. But I am puzzled by your very obvious 'hatred' of Hindu India and your lack of historical sense.
It could not be because of Marxist ideology. I myself have the highest regard for that world historical thinker and am very conversant with all of his works. Neverthless, I do not share your anti Hindu sentiment, even when I recognise that much work still needs to be done on the issues of caste etc.
Could it be that you have no acquaintance with Indian history, its culture or its philosophy ? You may have left California as a very young person ( if so some autodidactism on the subject, is called for). I have that knowledge, even though my own professional training is in Western thought.
Your biodata (provided by yourself) says that you are a secular person of Hindu descent, that you live in California. Does this simply mean that you are not a practising Hindu or does it mean that you are now a convert to Christianity ? This would explain your relentless upholding of the Christian missionary presence in India, despite mounting evidence of its negative results in India.
Or are you simply ignorant of what is going on, as for instance Ms. Setalvad is of the daily violence against Hindus within India , not to mention in Bangladesh. Or as in the case of Godhra, that it was not just a one time roasting alive of men, women and children in the train by Muslim mobs, that since the 1920s the Hindus have been attacked in Godhra. In my own native province of Kerala, memories are still alive of the slaughter of thousands of Hindus in the 1920s, after the ill starred Khilafat agitation.
It is a great disappointment to see educated, intelligent women such as yourself continuing to repeat shibboleths.
More importantly, this shortsightedness will only continue the suffering of the everyday Indian. As I said earlier, India will always be a majoritarian Hindu country, despite the most concerted efforts of Christian missionaries.
Your criticism should be targeted against them for instigating (with their ill conceived agenda) communal hatred. This will pave the way for your intelligent efforts at social reform.
Regards,
Dr. Vijaya
__________________________________________________________________
Yahoo! Canada Toolbar: Search from anywhere on the web, and bookmark your favourite sites. Download it now
http://ca.toolbar.yahoo.com.
1 comment:
Angana Chatterji got her Ph.D. from California Institute of Integral Studies - the Institute has no official spiritual path, its historical roots lie among followers of the Bengali sage Sri Aurobindo. This outfit previously traded as "American Academy of Asian Studies" and "California Institute of Asian Studies."
She is currently on the faculty of the aforementioned CIIS.
There is an inactive blog tracking her past activities.
An example of her high-quality scholarship, her recent work (with People's Tribunals and Commissions):
Angana P. Chatterji & Parvez Imroz, et al. (July 2009) Militarization with Impunity: Rape and Murder in Shopian, India-administered Kashmir (Interim Report of the International People's Tribunal), Srinagar: International People's Tribunal.
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