Thread by @sankrant

Do read @trueindology's post and the blatant #Hinduphobia which led to his suspension. If any other religion's followers were targeted with such insensitivity, they would be suspended. Here the victim is.

If you think #Hinduphobia isn't real, they'll come for you too. Thread 1/n

https://twitter.com/DimpleAtra/status/1123570790509830144

I hadn't much cared for these issues till, nearly 16 years ago, I happened to read an Encarta entry about Hinduism, an Encyclopedia commonly used by school children in the US. What my daughter was reading about Hinduism was unrecognizable from any Hinduism I knew. 2/n

I checked to see whether Encarta covered other religions with the same distaste it showed for Hinduism but, to my surprise, it treated every other religion with a great deal of respect. This led to my original comparative critique of Encarta. 3/n
sankrant.org/2002/09/hindui…

This started my long foray into the cesspool of academic Hinduism Studies in the US. Rajiv Malhtora and I critiqued many other Western scholars in Sulekha articles, many of which were later combined in the book "Invading the Sacred."
rajivmalhotra.com/books/invading…

We connected with Balagangadhara (or Balu) from Belgium over Sulekha, and had an early first meeting at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam of Swami Dayananda in Pennsylvania. Balu's book "The Heathen in His Blindness" is work a highly value, (though we fought hard in the first meeting). 5/n

Also met @RaniRosser, the first time at @RajivMessage's house I believe. She was doing her Ph.D. on this topic. I remembered her comment, "It is politically incorrect in US academia to say something positive about Hinduism, and politically incorrect to be negative about Islam." 6

The initial work led to many independent initiatives by other Hindus such as the California Textbooks trial. Ironically, major opposition to a fair portrayal of Hinduism in the US came from Indian Left there. Ironically, because in India they claim to fight for "minorities." 7

Hindus are a tiny minority in the US. That did not prevent the Indian Left from attacking Hindus in the US who were fighting for a fair portrayal of their traditions in textbooks. Indian Left carried their Hindu-hate to the US, using many front orgs with high-sounding names. 8

In fact, though there are many inimical forces to Hinduism in the US, such as the Christian Right, a large part of current academic #Hinduphobia in the US comes from Indian Leftists who populate "South Asian studies" & related fields. The hate source is universities in *India*. 9

Several reasons. Firstly, the Indian "social science" and humanities studies are hopelessly colonial and outdated. Universities breed the colonial gaze. Secondly, Nehru & Indira populated these with the Left, whose political loyalties always lay outside (Soviet/China/US)). 10/

Also, academia, at least the portion which exports "scholars" aboard, takes place in English medium with the English gaze. And unlike the West, we do not have religious studies departments in universities. So this makes someone like Doniger the academic authority on Hinduism. 11/

The idea that Doniger is regarded as an authority *by* academics in India shows how absurd the situation is. Doniger, incidentally, was also the article of the original article about Hinduism in Encarta which I critiqued. When they pulled it out, she was livid. 12/

It points to the abject ignorance of Indian universities and abysmally poor standards. This can't be rectified without fixing the Indian academic system and also requiring a deep knowledge of Sanskrit, and well-funded Indian language medium higher education in India. 13/

The problem is not academic. From academics it goes to schools in India, teaches children to hate, it goes to media which pushes the same #Hinduphobia. You could do a genocide of Hindus and it would be blacked out or spun. We already see this. Brahmin hate is a proxy. 14/

Any resistance from Hindus will be dubbed to "big bad Hindutva." You may have nothing to do with the RSS. As soon as you defend Hindu traditions, you will be called "Hindutva." A "good" Hindu is one who will die without resistance. I aim to be bad. 15/
sankrant.org/2014/04/dead-p…

This is why I setup Garuda. Years ago Rajiv had spoken of the ecosystem of knowledge, the producers, the consumers, the disseminators. We need to build a parallel ecosystem. We will not survive without that. But it needs all varna-functions. Vaishya function needs to fund. 16/

This isn't academic. True Indology suspension is a tip of a large iceberg. Hindus have suffered major holocausts, and will in the future. Your children will be slaughtered, your daughters raped. Cf Yazidis. But even telling our stories has been dubbed "communal." 18/

True Indology is dangerous precisely because he spoke our truth. A civilization which cannot tell its stories won't survive. Stories passed down in the oral tradition. Village women would make songs, pass to daughters. Now we have compulsory RTE and "ringa ringa roses." 19/

There is the other side. There is a THIRST worldwide for what the Indian traditions have to offer. Our seers have had access to the greatest truth. We are its inheritors. It is our responsibility. What is Sanatan will always be. But we need to do our part. राम राम। 20/