Under the guise of scholarly study academics like Chicago University's Wendy Doinger are blatantly writing offensive and factually incorrect books. Legal action in India resulted in an out of court settlement by Penguin (India) leading it to withdraw her book "The Hindus" in India. It was not banned by the Indian government, unlike Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses. Wendy's paymasters website Chicago University Divinity School mission page quotes "ministry students become priest's and chaplains" "prepare students for service of churches". Studies of Hindus by such bodies lack a certain credibility. The Oxford Center of Hindu Studies invited her as a guest speaker which I thought was insensitive and naive. Promoting such studies will put off the next generation of Hindus from their own dharma, misleading them at best. A glance at the Upanishads will show how logical and well argued each and every Hindu thought is, and is not just a matter of faith. The same thinkers founded Hindu numerals, mathematics and Sanskrit, a mathematically precise language. If Wendy cannot defend her book in an Indian court, refused all invitations to a open debate with Vedic scholars then Hindus should seek to get the her book removed from sale worldwide. Relying on Western academics sometimes is akin to asking an Islamic scholar to explain Hinduism to Hindus
No comments:
Post a Comment