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Hindu Nationalists Undertake Effort to Rewrite History in India
- amriksohata 9y agoRewrite history in India? Isn't that what Christian and Muslim invaders did for the last 500 years? They are not Hindu nationalists, they are just normal Indians taking back the narrative in their country.
- tom_hack 9y agoNobel laureate Amartya Sen outlines in his book 'The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity', what the incumbent party did in its previous stint i.e. when ruling India during 1998-2004: ... What is its specific relevance in contemporary Indian politics, and why is Hindutva politics so keen on redescribing the past? I would argue that the answer lies in two specific features of contemporary Hindu politics ... The first is the need for the Hindutva movement to keep together its diverse components and to generate fresh loyalty from potential recruits... The second reason for focusing on India's past is the large support for the Hindutva movement that comes from the Indian diaspora abroad, particularly in North America and Europe, for whom it is quite important to be able to retain their general Indian nationalist attachment while embracing any other loyalty they may be persuaded to have (such as Hindutva) ... The rapidly reorganized National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) became busy, from shortly after the BJP's assumption of office, not only in producing fresh textbooks for Indian school children, but also in deleting sections from books produced earlier by NCERT itself ( under pre-BJP management), written by reputed Indian historians. The 'reorganization' of NCERT was accompanied by an 'overhaul' of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), with new officers being appointed and a new agenda chosen for both, mainly in line with the priorities of the Hindutva movement ... School children were to be taught, in one of the textbooks, that Madagascar was 'an island in the Arabian sea' and that Lancashire had been 'a fast-growing industrial town' . The newly devised history of India in the new textbooks prepared by the Government of India received sharp criticism in the media and in public discussions that followed. The reviews in the major newspapers were almost uniformly disparaging. 'Bloomers Galore in the NCERT Texts', was the news headline in the Hindusthan Times ... one of the textbooks that was meant to teach Indian school children about the events surrounding India's independence failed to mention the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse, the Hindu political fanatic who had links with the activist RSS (the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh) - an omission of very considerable moment https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10310.The_Argumentative_Indian https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10310.The_Argumentative_...
- tom_hack 9y agoIn the book 'Beyond the Hoax: Science, Philosophy and Culture', author Alan Sokal, Math Professor at University College London, writes under the heading 'Hindu nationalism and Vedic-Science' in 'Pseudoscience and Postmodernism' chapter: On February 23, 2001, the University Grants Commission (UGC) — the central government body overseeing the funding of higher education in India — announced that "there is an urgent need to rejuvenate the science of Vedic Astrology in India, to allow this scientific knowledge to reach to the society at large and to provide opportunities to get this important science even exported to the world ... [Accordingly,] the Commission decided to approve in principle [the] setting up of a few departments of Vedic Astrology in Indian universities ... leading to certificate diploma, under-graduate, post-graduate and Ph.D. degrees." The plan provoked a storm of protest from Indian scientists and rationalist intellectuals. But what on earth prompted such a bizarre decision in the first place? The answer, not surprisingly, is politics: more precisely, the Hindu nationalist politics of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which governed India between March 1998 and May 2004. The BJP is the political expression of a multifaceted mass movement for Hindutva, or “Hindu-ness”, “an ultranationalist and chauvinistic movement that seeks to modernize India by recovering the supposedly pristine Vedic-Hindu roots of Indian culture”.As part of its program for the Hinduization of Indian education, the BJP rewrote school history textbooks to excise the contributions of Muslims and other non-Hindus, and promoted university-level courses not only in Vedic Astrology (Jyotir Vigyari) but also in karmakanda (Hindu priestly rituals), vastu shastra (sacred architectural rules), “human consciousness and Yogic science”, and “Vedic mathematics” ... Contemporary Hindu-nationalist intellectuals, many of whom are trained scientists and engineers, have brought this art to an even higher level of refinement. For instance, Subhash Kak, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Louisiana State University and one of the leading intellectual luminaries of the Hindu-nationalist diaspora, claims to find “astronomical codes” in the Rig Veda's descriptions of ritual fire altars, using a method that, as Nanda wryly observes, “is breathtakingly ad hoc and reads like numerology 101”.Even more ludicrously, #Raja Ram Mohan Roy asserts that “the Vedas are a coded book ... of particle physics and cosmology”: thus, verses referring to wild and domestic animals are really alluding to fermions and bosons, respectively; passages recounting the destruction of black-skinned people are in fact “about annihilation of anti-matter”; and the phrase “ten-finger form” in the Purusa hymn gives us “compelling evidence of [the] universe being considered ten-dimensional in Vedic cosmology”, just as in modem superstring theory. #A contemporary author, not to be confused with the early-nineteenth-century Indian reformer of the same name. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2036727.Beyond_the_Hoax https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2036727.Beyond_the_Hoax
- r_singh 9y agoOne of the qualities of India that I've appreciated growing up in modern India is how welcoming it is to all religions despite being super racist / castetist. As a Sikh who has cut his hair, I'm not sure what religion I belong to from an official standpoint (in the sense that what box I should tick on a Govt. form). However, I can see how this could make a lot of people happy with BJP given their biases (and fear) against the Muslim population that is popularly perceived as the most rapidly growing religion in all neighborhoods across India.
- lotsofpulp 9y agoIt's not just perception, the data states that Islam is experiencing the most growth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_population_growth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_population_growth Not surprising, they have tons of children which you can easily see if you've been to various countries.
- thewarrior 9y agoDisappointed to see this on HN . They are among the poorest and most marginalized communities in the country . Their population growth when correcting for their economic status is not that much higher than the rest.
- dep_b 9y agoCorrecting for their economic status still doesn't make the statement you reply to untrue.
- lotsofpulp 9y agoWhat could be disappointing about data? Poor or rich, population changes can cause changes in lifestyle and the social order in general, hence the relevance of knowing that it is real and not just perceived or bias.
- bildung 9y agoI think the point is that this muslim population growth isn't real, in the sense that the implied causation is wrong. Those people don't get more children because they are muslim but because they are poor, as poor people generally get more children all over the world (e.g. African Americans in the U.S. are both over-represented among the poor and grow as a share of the overall population in the U.S.)
- sun_n_surf 9y agoNot more of this pearl-clutching sensationalist reporting. India has shown no signs (any more than before) of the Hindu nationalism that was supposed to sweep the nation once Modi came to power. He is no more Hindu nationalist than Shashi "Why I am a Hindu" Tharoor (one can't give it away, the other can't pay for it). Modi will fall, oh sure, Modi will fall. But mostly because he did not deliver on all his promises of economic miracles, which really, being a pragmatic people, is mostly what Indians care about. Indians are either too smart or too busy (or both) to care about the nuances of history as written in text books for children (which they only read before the exams to regurgiate).
- thewarrior 9y agoBecause they are preparing to roll out their agenda in their second term. They cannot jeopardise it by being too open about it now before the next elections. There are working committees in the RSS already drafting amendments to the constitution.
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- warmcat 9y agoHow do you know about this? Do you know people working on it?
- kamaal 9y agoI think he is talking about this article: https://thewire.in/43846/rss-ideologue-govindacharya-we-will-rewrite-the-constitution-to-reflect-bharatiyata/ https://thewire.in/43846/rss-ideologue-govindacharya-we-will... Doesn't mean anything at all. But its not like the news is alien. This sort of thing just keeps coming up in the news all the time.
- warmcat 9y agoThese people can talk whatever they want...does not mean that government is out to eliminate everyone else who is not Hindu. If they had influence, we would have seen this happen a long time ago. Indian society is maturing faster than any news article can summarize. Common people in India are too busy feeding their families now than to think of where they came from.
- seagullz 9y ago‘Who controls the past,’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.' -- 1984 (George Orwell)
- newyankee 9y agoI can assure you the previous Govt. which rules for 60+ years did the same and i feel a lot of this changed the character of the country. We need to reverse some of these changes so that we are proud of our heritage.
- known 9y agoThe Arabic countries led by Muslims were the most advanced scientists/engineers in the world until they let religious bigots/radicals take over. Just saying Modi/RSS/BJP... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_science_and_engineering_in_the_Islamic_world https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_science_and_engi...
- seagullz 9y agoThe Wikipedia page doesn't seem to support the thesis. One can plausibly argue for quite the contrary, IMHO. In fact, many outstanding scholars in STEM of that era, including a few names in the cited Wikipedia page, were also religious scholars (jurisprudence, theology, hadith etc.). Arabs were so much lost before the advent of Islam that the neighboring Persians and Romans apparently had little to no interest in them. History is more complicated/nuanced of course, but these are important points.
- Brakenshire 9y agoEarly Islamic philosophy was positive towards scientific principles, later Islamic philosophy actively hostile: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incoherence_of_the_Philosophers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incoherence_of_the_Philoso...
- seagullz 9y agoAgreed mostly. But again the picture is more complicated than what a single sentence or two can convey. Curiously, many of the lethargy, idleness and sense of pointlessness came through sufism. Sufism itself has also many roots (including Greek, and later Andalusian twists), and has a wide spectrum. Ghazzali (the author of The Incoherence) himself was heavily affected by Sufi themes before he wrote 'the Incoherence'; but that book, a rationalist attack on some form of rationalism itself, has many valid points though.
- newyankee 9y agoWhile i agree that Islam has contributed a great deal to science. It is disingenuous to use that as a defense for all things Islam especially contemporary. A classical example is that Arabic numerals were essentially Indian numbers (including zero) that were introduced to the West by Arab traders. If one purely talks about timelines there are many unappreciated parts of Indian history and contributions created locally that predate Islam and Christianity. This is not a contest but just trying to highlight the facts. Some Indians do not like the pride taken in these things but that is a separate issue
- msravi 9y agoIndia's history has always been written to suit a political purpose. The Nehru family (and their cabal of left historians - ideologically influenced by the former USSR) has deliberately tinkered with our history since independence, and the holier-than-thou stance of the article is extremely hypocritical. You only realize how much is manipulated when you start ploughing through the original reference material. The evidence of a whitewashed history we've been fed all these years is damning.
- anujdeshpande 9y agoNot sure if you are justifying the present government's stance or finding faults with a government that is no longer in power. I am not sure if "X-1 used to do this too" is a valid argument to "X is using it's power to rewrite history to suit their beliefs".
- newyankee 9y agoIf X did a mistake and Y can correct it that is no reason to call it rewriting of history. This in fact means that what existed was biased
- gumby 9y ago"History has always been written to suit a political purpose. " It's not just India. That being said, the RSS is a malign organization, and their official view of history is loony.
- sbmthakur 9y agoYup. They do a lot of damage by helping people after natural calamities.
- cholantesh 9y agoYeah, surely there's no history of right-wing organizations gathering support by engaging in public welfare operations.
- known 9y agoModi/RSS/BJP will not appreciate democracy/diversity https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triarchy_%28theory%29 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triarchy_%28theory%29 They promote hierarchies https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_in_Hinduism https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_in_Hinduism
- newyankee 9y agoWhat nonsense
- ajeet_dhaliwal 9y agoEconomic reforms and getting the government away from as much as possible should be their priority which I was hoping to see with Modi. This other stuff is not important. Also, I thought this (that Hinduism had been around in India long before Islam, the same way Zorastrianism was in Iran) was already accepted knowledge, I am surprised to hear it's not.
- arnsholt 9y agoThat Hinduism is older than Islam is an absolute no-brainer. Islam dates to the 8th century, whereas the oldest layers of the Vedas are likely 3000 to 4000 years old. The question is the origins of the Vedic religion and its adherents. For Hindutva, it's of vital importance that Hinduism originate in India, but as I understand the scientific consensus it's quite clear that the Aryans came into India from the outside and subjugated an extant population (likely Dravidian-speaking).
- fmela 9y agoIslam dates to the 7th century. According to its doctrine, it is the ultimate and final refinement of Abrahamic faith. Muslims believe that every prophet going back to Adam were taught by the same God they believe in, and hence were also Muslim; according to Islam, Judaism and Christianity are the same breed of Abrahamic monotheism which has since been distorted by man. So if you asked a Muslim, they might tell you that Islam is the original religion.
- ajeet_dhaliwal 9y agoFor Hindutva, it's of vital importance that Hinduism originate in India To clarify, I thought this was widely accepted already, that Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism all started in India. Islam and Christianity being started elsewhere.
- empath75 9y agoThe Vedas almost certainly originated from outside, but the vast majority of the development of the religion took place in India.
- r_singh 9y agoThis maybe too far fetched, but I wonder if rewriting Indian history textbooks to make India appear more Hindu could somehow potentially increase our pace towards adopting Uniform Civil Code in our constitution?
- asif8qureshi 9y agoFor Uniform Civil Code to be adopted, it is the Hindu marriage act which has to be supplanted as all the other communities have already opted for Special Marriage Act to register their marriages.
- kamaal 9y agoThat's just the tip of the iceberg. You also have to navigate through all sorts of laws related to crime, food regulations, civil rights and bazillion other categories and basically get a society so diverse to agree on deeply conflicting issues. Easier said than done. In many cases it might involve undoing a lot privilege in many sections of society.
- calvinbhai 9y agoThis is a clickbait article. The current government, under the façade of "Hindu Nationalism" is doing zilch (at least until now, nothing noticeable) to fix the education system that has been messed by the previous administration. No matter how much you tweak with history, its not going to be effective if education system is left in shambles.Adding to that is the ministry of education, that knows how to troll bait international and Indian media, which tends to follow a certain ideology (thats not 'Hindu Nationalist'). With that said, having read more and more content from independent authors (not funded by an institution, publicly) I believe Indian history needs a thorough redo. Problem is not with misinformation, but with lack of adequate information. The 1% of history gets 99% focus, whereas an equally amazing 99% is not mentioned, either due to laziness or due to scheming history writers, wanting to support a particular ideology. Whats worse, is an Indian kid learns more about 200 to 400 yr old architecture around the world, but zilch about a 1000yr old fort or a temple in his/her own state. Whatever the effort of rewriting history, as claimed in this article is, it is not going to have any serious effect, other than a few progressive-liberal news outlets hyperventilating on a non-issue that will be forgotten when Trump/Putin/KimJongUn et al throw a new troll-bait.
- tom_hack 9y ago>> to fix the education system that has been messed by the previous administration. To be sure, 'administrations' would be better word, given what the current ruling party did to school text-books, in its earlier regime during 1998-2004. See this snippet from 'Argumentative Indian' by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen: https://books.google.co.in/books?id=gcGiwyBS3YwC&lpg=PT29&vq=madagascar&pg=PT29#v=snippet&q=madagascar&f=false https://books.google.co.in/books?id=gcGiwyBS3YwC&lpg=PT29&vq...
- krtkush 9y ago> having read more and more content from independent authors (not funded by an institution, publicly) Could you please list these books, papers etc? I too am in hunt of more neutral, unbiased work.
- newyankee 9y ago
- newyankee 9y agoWow, the west remains as clueless of Indian politics as ever and the media continues its hit jobs and agenda
- thisisit 9y agoI don't understand why was this upvoted at all? This topic is as divisive as NRA or Trump in USA. IMO, these politically charged discussions should be kept off HN.
- m_ransing 9y agoI agree with this. The topic is vast and number of opinions will be equal to number of people. And exactly what is getting discussed here? Hindu propaganda, patriarchal hierarchy, education system, Muslim and British attacks? No point in discussing such issues on HN. At least create different threads for different topic.