,
11 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
As @PMOIndia readies to go to the USA, time to read another article by @RajivMessage written long ago which is no less relevant today. rajivmalhotra.com/library/articl… #HowdyHouston
I had argued that certain South Asian studies programs in the US may be undermining India and had suggested that many Indian scholars and writers catering to English language readers need to rethink their positions on India.
Asia is reclaiming its historical position as a leader of innovation, wealth creation and global culture.
A review of current educational materials shows that presently India is not taught according to these proposed new guidelines. Moreover, the teaching of India is not on par with practices that characterize the teaching of many other Asian countries.
Current educational materials tend to portray India in terms of hopeless poverty, backwardness and superstition — using caste and conflict as the predominant lenses.
There is a contradiction between the US government’s positive new policies towards India and the jaded focus of many Indian-American scholars.
US strategic interests, including the collective interests of its citizens, businesses and government, should determine its aims in teaching India. The old paradigm was the Cold War.
Many Western-based South Asian Studies scholars are either members of or affiliated with specific Indian political parties and/or political NGOs (Non-Government Organizations).
The ‘Left’ as it manifests in the Indian environment is very different from what liberal middleclass Americans view as Left. In the US, the Left is where the heart is, and this is very different from an Indian leftist’s orientation, which is colder and more opportunistic.
US policy has made many catastrophic miscalculations in Asia in the past, because its intellectuals had a murky and befuddled understanding of non-western cultures and politics. Similar errors of judgment cannot be ruled out in the case of India.
Ill-conceived policies towards India pose a serious future threat to American strategic interests.
