Thread by @shrikanth_krish

On the BHU professor appointment brouhaha-

"Trad" position seems to be - We cannot trust a non-Hindu to teach Hinduism with "shraddha"

But by that logic religious studies should only be learnt through one's clansmen or teachers of one's own sampradAya

Others can't be trusted?

This has somewhat dangerous implications

Do we trust a mAdhva professor to teach advaita with competence?

How about a hindu brAhmaNa who may be personally agnostic?

And where does this end?

Are you going to acquiese to student protests in future of a different sort?

What if a predominantly "shudra" classroom refuses to accept the appointment of a "brAhmaNa" professor?

The "Trad" argument may have its merits

But even if I were to take it at face value (and not suspect it of plain bigotry), it can be viewed as a front for extreme tribalism

Which isn't healthy

Second - it creates bad precedents when universities start acceding to the prejudices of the student body

We have seen that in the West, although the popular pressures there are from the Left

"Traditionalists" have every right to look down upon the "theology" that gets taught in universities

Feel free to look down upon it

And learn your stuff only from "traditional" teachers

Alternatively start your own gurukulas, where sectarian teaching is imparted with great fidelity to people of a particular sampradAya

If the government doesn't allow for that, do campaign for it

That's perfectly fine

What is not on is a disruption of mainstream education, and an encouragement of the mob in our universities

It can lead to repercussions which will backfire on the "trads" in the not so distant future

The mob doesn't always take stances that you will like

Lastly the other thing I worry about is -

This will engender a tendency to espouse a certain standard "Hindu line"

If people from groups you don't like (it need not be muslims, it can even be "Macaulayputras") take stances that discomfit that standard line they get branded

How healthy is that for a vibrant intellectual culture?

We've already seen cases where this has happened on twitter of all places

Where certain handles were "targeted" because they said something "off-beat" (even if those handles were part of H-Right)

When loyalty and "outward" piety become the standards to judge scholarship or a professor, then the intellectual health can suffer

This is something to guard against