Hindus in New York denounce Doniger’s book “Hindus: An Alternative History”
Narain Kataria in New York
A consortium of Hindu organizations, temples and concerned individuals in New York and New Jersey area organized a protest demonstration at New School University Building in New York City on March 10th. The demonstration was against the decision of National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to consider honoring Dr. Wendy Doniger for her book “Hindus: An Alternative History”.
The protesters argued that Wendy Doniger’s book contains numerous factual errors, mischaracterizations, and shows an undercurrent of deep contempt for Hindus. For decades Dr. Doniger has been masquerading as a scholar on Hinduism and in the Sanskrit language. However Wales Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard Michael Witzel has described Wendy’s translations of rig veda, jaiminiya brahmana and manusmriti in these stark terms – ‘lacking common sense’, ‘unreliable’, ‘idiosyncratic’ ,and “a stream of unconnected George-Bush-like anacoluths “.
In the words of the BBC, “Doniger is known for being rude, crude and very lewd in the hallowed portals of Sanskrit Academics”.
She called the Bhagavad Gita (one of the most sacred Hindu scripture and a classic of world religious literature) a “dishonest book” that “justifies war.”
We condemn this book for its gross factual errors and gratuitously hurtful and contemptuous depictions e.g. comparing revered Hindu goddesses to Playboy models, mocking Hindus as unfaithful “serial monogamists”. This book caricatures Hinduism in a grossly offensive and degrading manner.
Doniger wants this book to be used as a “basic textbook” on Hinduism and India. Not only will this book subject students to a warped, false and bigoted version of Hinduism, it will also expose Indian-American youth to ridicule and bigotry.
Narain Kataria, President of the Indian American Intellectuals Forum (IAIF), one of the organizers of the protest said that most learned scholars of Hinduism and Sanskrit do not think highly of Doniger. They have totally rejected Doniger’s deceptive claims of being a Sanskrit scholar and they have also stated that her understanding of Hinduism is very superficial and often dead wrong. To repeat, the above book by Dr. Doniger is a work that promotes bigotry, racism and intolerance. According to one Hindu Sanskrit scholar “Her Rg Veda – I own a copy – illustrates her poor knowledge of Sanskrit and her translation is just literal, if at all. She does not have the depth of knowledge to delve deep into Hindu texts and unravel their real meaning”.
We held the demonstration to expose her bogus scholarship about Hinduism and discredit her in the eyes of academia using objective and factual criteria. Our purpose was to caution NBCC to think twice before considering Doniger for any honor.
By giving a pornographic twist to Hindu objects of veneration and worship, Doniger is trying to create the illusion that Hinduism is nothing but a crude immoral religion. This has the potential to create disaffection, disillusionment and depression in the minds of Hindu children about Hindu Dharma.
We organized the demonstration to protest those who willingly and deliberately support Dr. Wendy Deniger’s anti-Hindu agenda.
Please note that Prof. Wendy Doniger, due to some reason, was not selected by NBCC for the honor.
In no particular order, the following Hindu organizations/leaders from the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area participated in this protest:
Raju Nanoo, Chairman, Trustee Board, Kerala Hindus of North America;
Dr. Vasudeva C. Murthy, President, Kannada Koota;
Srinivas Shakelly, Forum for Hindu Awakening;
Bidyut Sarkar, International Federation of Bangladeshi Hindus and Friends;
Sher Bahadur Singh, Member, Board of Directors, International Hindi Samiti;
Sunanda Thali, Hindu Human Rights Watch;
Ramen Nandi, Bharat Seva Sangh;
Nagendra Rao, President, Sanatana Dharma Pratishsthapana Foundation;
Dr. Sudhakar Reddy, Overseas Friends of Bharatiya Janata Party (OFBJP);
Kamal Pandey of Foundation of Nepalese in America;
Sher Bahadur Singh of Rashtravadi Gorkha Seva Dal;
Arish Sahani and Nand Ramsinghani of Indian American Intellectuals Forum; and
USHA
Important Web Links Critiquing Prof. Wendy Doniger:
1. http://indianrealist.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/scholarly-critique-of-donigers-scholarship/
2. http://vishalagarwal.voiceofdharma.com/articles/thaah/index.htm
3. http://bharatabharati.wordpress.com/2010/02/04/wendy-doniger-does-a-doggie-shrinivas-tilak/
4.http://rajivmalhotra.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=30:risa-lila-1-wendys-child-syndrome&catid=20:american-education-reform&Itemid=26
5. http://www.petitiononline.com/dharma10/petition.html
Thursday, April 15, 2010
RALLY AGAINST THE MASSACRE OF CHRISTIANS BY JIHADISTS IN NIGERIA, AT THE U.N. IN NEW YORK ON APRIL 7TH
RALLY AGAINST THE MASSACRE OF CHRISTIANS BY JIHADISTS IN NIGERIA, AT THE U.N. IN NEW YORK ON APRIL 7TH
A FEW PICTURES OF THE RALLY
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/04/ny-scores-rally-for-persecuted-nigerian-christans-while-scores-of-christians-attacked-three-slaughte.html
Beth Galilnsky of the Jewish Action Alliance organized a protest at U.N. in New York against the recent massacre of 500 Nigerian Christians by Radical Islamists in Nigeria.
Since Indian American Intellectuals Forum is actively engaged in creating an awareness about the menace of Islamic terrorism all over the world, President of Indian American Intellectuals Forum Narain Kataria, Vice President Arish Sahani and Satya Dosapati of Hindu Human Rights Watch were invited to join the protest and address the Rally.
The following is the text of Narain Kataria’s speech at the protest.
Copy of the speech delivered by Narain Kataria
President Indian American Intellectuals Forum,
Director, Hindu Human Rights Watch and
Founder Member, Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam
Dear Brothers and Sisters: Good Evening:
Today we have assembled here to express our shock and horror at the dastardly killing of our 500 brothers and sisters on March 8, 2010 in three villages of Nigeria by radical Islamists who follow extreme ideology of Wahabi Islam. I am also the victim of Islamic terrorism. Hence I fully appreciate your anger, agony and helplessness. I express my heartfelt sympathies to all of you.
I stand before you as a proud America citizen. I feel privileged and honored for giving me an opportunity to speak before you. America is a free and democratic country. Here everyone enjoys liberty of religion and freedom of thought. Unlike Nigeria and other Islamic nations, it is a paradise on the Earth.
I was born in Sind. Sind was part of British India before 1947. Since I was a Hindu I was hounded out by Jihadists. Many of my Hindu and Sikh friends were chased, attacked, killed and thrown out of the fast moving trains by radical Islamists. I somehow survived and went to India. In 1972, I came to USA.
I am the survivor of the Partition of India which took place in 1947. More than 10 million Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists were driven from Islamic Pakistan and hundreds of thousands of innocent Hindus and Sikhs were slaughtered by Islamists in cold-blooded manner in connivance with newly formed Islamic government of Pakistan. That was the biggest displacement and forcible migration of Hindu people in the recorded History. The world did not pay any heed to this gruesome tragedy as it is not paying any serious attention to Nigerian massacre now. The world woke up only after 9/11.
In 1947 I saw with my own eyes the reign of terror let lose by radical Islamists on Hindus and Sikhs. They were slaughtered in the same manner as 500 Christians were murdered in three villages in Nigeria with machetes on March 8, 2010. Entire government machinery was used to instill fear in the minds of Hindus.
Nearly 2 million Hindu people are still held as slaves in bonded labor in Southern Pakistan. 20 million Hindus are missing or unaccounted in Bangladesh. (http://hinduism.about.com/od/history/a/humanrights.htm)
In East Bengal in 1971, 3 million people were ruthlessly murdered by Islamic Army of Pakistan; 80% were Hindus. (http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/modern/hindu_bangla.html)
Brothers and Sisters, I understand your pain and sufferings. I am in a better position to appreciate and realize as to what is going in your minds at the moment. What is happening to Nigerian Christians now, had happened to Hindus in 1947 in Pakistan and 1971 in Bangladesh. The same pattern was repeated in 1989 in Kashmir where half a million Hindus were terrorized by Jihadist from Pakistan to leave their ancestral home and flee for their lives.
Brothers and Sisters what is happening in Nigeria is nothing new. It has been happening since the advent of Islam. During the last 1400 years, radical Islamists have killed 270 million people across the globe; 120 million Africans, 60 million Christians, 80 million Hindus, and 10 million Buddhists. (Jamie Glazov, “The Infidel Revolution,” frontpagemag.com, February 21, 2007).
In 1947, in what is Bangladesh today, Hindus were 30% of population. Today they are less than 10% of the population. Hindus were 23% of the total population in Pakistan in 1947, now their population is less than 2%. They have been ethnically cleansed from Pakistan and soon will be liquidated from Bangladesh if the world community did nothing to protect them from the Islamic terror.
Since 9/11/2001, the followers of the so called “religion of peace” have carried out 15101 deadly terrorist attacks and killed more than 75,000 people. (http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/ )
The root cause of this jihadist terrorism is Pakistan. Pakistan is the epicenter of terrorism. Taliban and other terrorist organizations in Pakistan are guided, trained and protected by Pakistan’s spy agency – ISI and funded by another villain - Saudi Arabia.
The Nigerian genocide became a reality because Saudi Arabia pumped about 100 billion dollars around the world spreading hatred during the last 3 decades.
The only way we can possibly stop this religious madness is to stand up and courageously expose the ideologies that extol the virtues of violence and hatred which, in the end, kill the innocent people in the name of Allah. No wonder that most terrorist attacks all over the globe – whether they take place in Mumbai or Madrid, Bali or Bangalore, Manila or Morocco, Thailand or Philippine, Algeria or Nigeria, New York or Beslan – all of them happen to be the handiwork of Islamic terrorists.
I believe, in interest of the survival of human civilization on planet earth and the protection of freedom, liberty and democracy, it is imperative that the major countries like United States, Britain, Russia, Israel, India and other victims of Jihad formulate some kind of concrete strategies that would effectively end this serious threat to our very existence.
Thanks again for your time and attention.
God Bless America!
A FEW PICTURES OF THE RALLY
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/04/ny-scores-rally-for-persecuted-nigerian-christans-while-scores-of-christians-attacked-three-slaughte.html
Beth Galilnsky of the Jewish Action Alliance organized a protest at U.N. in New York against the recent massacre of 500 Nigerian Christians by Radical Islamists in Nigeria.
Since Indian American Intellectuals Forum is actively engaged in creating an awareness about the menace of Islamic terrorism all over the world, President of Indian American Intellectuals Forum Narain Kataria, Vice President Arish Sahani and Satya Dosapati of Hindu Human Rights Watch were invited to join the protest and address the Rally.
The following is the text of Narain Kataria’s speech at the protest.
Copy of the speech delivered by Narain Kataria
President Indian American Intellectuals Forum,
Director, Hindu Human Rights Watch and
Founder Member, Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam
Dear Brothers and Sisters: Good Evening:
Today we have assembled here to express our shock and horror at the dastardly killing of our 500 brothers and sisters on March 8, 2010 in three villages of Nigeria by radical Islamists who follow extreme ideology of Wahabi Islam. I am also the victim of Islamic terrorism. Hence I fully appreciate your anger, agony and helplessness. I express my heartfelt sympathies to all of you.
I stand before you as a proud America citizen. I feel privileged and honored for giving me an opportunity to speak before you. America is a free and democratic country. Here everyone enjoys liberty of religion and freedom of thought. Unlike Nigeria and other Islamic nations, it is a paradise on the Earth.
I was born in Sind. Sind was part of British India before 1947. Since I was a Hindu I was hounded out by Jihadists. Many of my Hindu and Sikh friends were chased, attacked, killed and thrown out of the fast moving trains by radical Islamists. I somehow survived and went to India. In 1972, I came to USA.
I am the survivor of the Partition of India which took place in 1947. More than 10 million Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists were driven from Islamic Pakistan and hundreds of thousands of innocent Hindus and Sikhs were slaughtered by Islamists in cold-blooded manner in connivance with newly formed Islamic government of Pakistan. That was the biggest displacement and forcible migration of Hindu people in the recorded History. The world did not pay any heed to this gruesome tragedy as it is not paying any serious attention to Nigerian massacre now. The world woke up only after 9/11.
In 1947 I saw with my own eyes the reign of terror let lose by radical Islamists on Hindus and Sikhs. They were slaughtered in the same manner as 500 Christians were murdered in three villages in Nigeria with machetes on March 8, 2010. Entire government machinery was used to instill fear in the minds of Hindus.
Nearly 2 million Hindu people are still held as slaves in bonded labor in Southern Pakistan. 20 million Hindus are missing or unaccounted in Bangladesh. (http://hinduism.about.com/od/history/a/humanrights.htm)
In East Bengal in 1971, 3 million people were ruthlessly murdered by Islamic Army of Pakistan; 80% were Hindus. (http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/modern/hindu_bangla.html)
Brothers and Sisters, I understand your pain and sufferings. I am in a better position to appreciate and realize as to what is going in your minds at the moment. What is happening to Nigerian Christians now, had happened to Hindus in 1947 in Pakistan and 1971 in Bangladesh. The same pattern was repeated in 1989 in Kashmir where half a million Hindus were terrorized by Jihadist from Pakistan to leave their ancestral home and flee for their lives.
Brothers and Sisters what is happening in Nigeria is nothing new. It has been happening since the advent of Islam. During the last 1400 years, radical Islamists have killed 270 million people across the globe; 120 million Africans, 60 million Christians, 80 million Hindus, and 10 million Buddhists. (Jamie Glazov, “The Infidel Revolution,” frontpagemag.com, February 21, 2007).
In 1947, in what is Bangladesh today, Hindus were 30% of population. Today they are less than 10% of the population. Hindus were 23% of the total population in Pakistan in 1947, now their population is less than 2%. They have been ethnically cleansed from Pakistan and soon will be liquidated from Bangladesh if the world community did nothing to protect them from the Islamic terror.
Since 9/11/2001, the followers of the so called “religion of peace” have carried out 15101 deadly terrorist attacks and killed more than 75,000 people. (http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/ )
The root cause of this jihadist terrorism is Pakistan. Pakistan is the epicenter of terrorism. Taliban and other terrorist organizations in Pakistan are guided, trained and protected by Pakistan’s spy agency – ISI and funded by another villain - Saudi Arabia.
The Nigerian genocide became a reality because Saudi Arabia pumped about 100 billion dollars around the world spreading hatred during the last 3 decades.
The only way we can possibly stop this religious madness is to stand up and courageously expose the ideologies that extol the virtues of violence and hatred which, in the end, kill the innocent people in the name of Allah. No wonder that most terrorist attacks all over the globe – whether they take place in Mumbai or Madrid, Bali or Bangalore, Manila or Morocco, Thailand or Philippine, Algeria or Nigeria, New York or Beslan – all of them happen to be the handiwork of Islamic terrorists.
I believe, in interest of the survival of human civilization on planet earth and the protection of freedom, liberty and democracy, it is imperative that the major countries like United States, Britain, Russia, Israel, India and other victims of Jihad formulate some kind of concrete strategies that would effectively end this serious threat to our very existence.
Thanks again for your time and attention.
God Bless America!
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