08-23-2006, 05:25 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->thehindu@vsnl.com, letters@thehindu.co.in, <openpage@thehindu.co.in>,
Re: <b>False accusations in The Hindu by a foreign academic</b>
Dear Editor,
This is in reference to the leader page article by Paul R. Brass
titled, "Organised riots & structured violence in India" in The Hindu
of August 23, 2006 URL:
http://www.hindu.com/2006/08/23/stories/...241000.htm
I consider that the following statement is defamatory and you owe it
to your readers to retract it with an apology: "Moreover, it was much
more highly developed and elaborately organised within the network of
militant Hindu organisations radiating out from the RSS than from any
comparable network of Muslim organisations, at least in northern
India."
I would invite your reference to a comparable and equally
irresponsible statement made by a US Think Tank called Rand
Corporation which was effectively rebutted; there has been no answer
forthcoming from Rand Corp. to this rebuttal of an academic's false
claim that RSS was a Hindu religious cult. http://tinyurl.com/mboxq
In the name of research, the publisher "Three Essays Collective" of
the forthcoming book and the author Paul R. Brass are indulging in
mud-slinging against an organization whose workers saved thousands of
lives during the holocaust of Partition. You will also do well to
invite the attention of your readers, the writer of the defamatory
article and the publishers of the book to read the history of
partition and the articles which have been published in NewsToday at
the following URLs heralding the work of RSS.
Unsung RSS heroes of Partition days a six-part article by V. Sundaram
in six issues of Newstoday of July 2006 . URLs:
http://newstodaynet.com/2006sud/06jul/1707ss1.htm
http://newstodaynet.com/2006sud/06jul/1807ss1.htm
http://newstodaynet.com/2006sud/06jul/1907ss1.htm
http://newstodaynet.com/2006sud/06jul/2007ss1.htm
http://newstodaynet.com/2006sud/06jul/2207ss1.htm
http://newstodaynet.com/2006sud/06jul/2407ss1.htm
Hindu is a civilizational heritage and do not belittle it with
flippant 'religious' bigotry and do not foment communal frenzy by
publishing such partisan articles.
The immaturity of Paul R. Brass despite his position as Professor
Emeritus of Political Science and South Asian Studies, University of
Washington,
Seattle is best described by Prof. Ashutosh Varshney who had something
telling to say about Brass who had, "spent 40 years of his life
studying one city, Aligarh". Varshney also suggested that Brass had
produced nothing of value from his labors. The point to note is that
American academics like Brass arrogate to themselves the ability to
analyse the society in Hindustan and pontificate about the Muslim
problem, without ever stepping beyond Aligarh. So much for
intellectual honesty.
Why are communists in Hindustan promoting such foreign academics?
I hope this opinion communicated by this letter will be published in
full, in the leader page of The Hindu. I understand that you have a
new policy for airing readers' opinions. I hope the policy allows this
comment to be published; if there is any problem, I would like to meet
the Readers' Editor Mr. Narayanan.
Thanking you for your consideration.
Yours truly,
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Re: <b>False accusations in The Hindu by a foreign academic</b>
Dear Editor,
This is in reference to the leader page article by Paul R. Brass
titled, "Organised riots & structured violence in India" in The Hindu
of August 23, 2006 URL:
http://www.hindu.com/2006/08/23/stories/...241000.htm
I consider that the following statement is defamatory and you owe it
to your readers to retract it with an apology: "Moreover, it was much
more highly developed and elaborately organised within the network of
militant Hindu organisations radiating out from the RSS than from any
comparable network of Muslim organisations, at least in northern
India."
I would invite your reference to a comparable and equally
irresponsible statement made by a US Think Tank called Rand
Corporation which was effectively rebutted; there has been no answer
forthcoming from Rand Corp. to this rebuttal of an academic's false
claim that RSS was a Hindu religious cult. http://tinyurl.com/mboxq
In the name of research, the publisher "Three Essays Collective" of
the forthcoming book and the author Paul R. Brass are indulging in
mud-slinging against an organization whose workers saved thousands of
lives during the holocaust of Partition. You will also do well to
invite the attention of your readers, the writer of the defamatory
article and the publishers of the book to read the history of
partition and the articles which have been published in NewsToday at
the following URLs heralding the work of RSS.
Unsung RSS heroes of Partition days a six-part article by V. Sundaram
in six issues of Newstoday of July 2006 . URLs:
http://newstodaynet.com/2006sud/06jul/1707ss1.htm
http://newstodaynet.com/2006sud/06jul/1807ss1.htm
http://newstodaynet.com/2006sud/06jul/1907ss1.htm
http://newstodaynet.com/2006sud/06jul/2007ss1.htm
http://newstodaynet.com/2006sud/06jul/2207ss1.htm
http://newstodaynet.com/2006sud/06jul/2407ss1.htm
Hindu is a civilizational heritage and do not belittle it with
flippant 'religious' bigotry and do not foment communal frenzy by
publishing such partisan articles.
The immaturity of Paul R. Brass despite his position as Professor
Emeritus of Political Science and South Asian Studies, University of
Washington,
Seattle is best described by Prof. Ashutosh Varshney who had something
telling to say about Brass who had, "spent 40 years of his life
studying one city, Aligarh". Varshney also suggested that Brass had
produced nothing of value from his labors. The point to note is that
American academics like Brass arrogate to themselves the ability to
analyse the society in Hindustan and pontificate about the Muslim
problem, without ever stepping beyond Aligarh. So much for
intellectual honesty.
Why are communists in Hindustan promoting such foreign academics?
I hope this opinion communicated by this letter will be published in
full, in the leader page of The Hindu. I understand that you have a
new policy for airing readers' opinions. I hope the policy allows this
comment to be published; if there is any problem, I would like to meet
the Readers' Editor Mr. Narayanan.
Thanking you for your consideration.
Yours truly,
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->