From: K
| http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/articles/politics/bogey.html There are more points in Ms. Nanda's paper which are worthy of further discussion, but for now I will conclude with an observation on what seems to be her sincere declaration of interest. Among the points that "worry" her, she mentions this as the final one: "The more prominence Hinduism gets abroad, even for wrong reasons like the new age and paganism, the more prestige it gains in India." Here, she really lays her cards on the table. It is very good that, unlike many other "secularists", she does not try to be clever and claim to speak for "true Hinduism" against a "distorted Hinduism" of the Hindu revivalists. Instead, she clearly targets Hinduism itself, deploring any development which might make Hinduism "gain prestige". Let us see if I can translate that correctly: wanting something or someone to suffer rather than to prosper is what we call "hate". She hates Hinduism, and her academic work is written in the service of that hate. To me, that is not the end of the matter. As a Catholic, I was taught never to give up hope, one of the great Christian virtues along with faith and charity. And under the influence of Socrates, I understand that deplorable attitudes are merely the result of ignorance. So, I don't despair and I look forward to the day when Meera Nanda will go out and acquaint herself in person with some of the people whose positions she has now been misrepresenting. Or at least she may start reading the authors whom she criticizes. Once she comes to acquire more knowledge about her subject-matter, she may reconsider her opinion. |
1 comment:
For what it is worth, a program on NDTV explores Past Life Regression to explain anomalies in the present life.
Meera Nanda, Suzanne Arundhati Roy, Teesta Setalvad and a host of others could be ideal candidates for this program.
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