<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A quick search and could not find the URL, but Weasel writes in Dawn...<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
FOSA is Paki organisation, so definitely they are doing their Dharma.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dalit Sikh temples<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Now seperate temples for Dalit Sikhs.
03-13-2006, 05:35 AM (This post was last modified: 03-13-2006, 06:04 AM by agnivayu.)
BTW, this is interesting that he writes in the Dawn. We know how they talk about Hindus in Pakistani textbooks, it's full of blatant lies and openly racist statements, they are also full of anti-jewish hate. Liars like Witzel won't be able to go on forever, this exercise actually turns out to be a victory for us because the truth is starting to be exposed now.
We got most of the edits that we wanted. The other side declared it a victory for them, because they changed what they wanted and Witzel himself agreed that Hinduism was misportrayed.
Battle lines have been drawn, and Hinduism's intellectual legions are ready for war!
Hinduism's enemies are many, but the enemies have enemies too, and they are trembling in their knees fearing the rise of the world's most ancient religion.
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Mar 13 2006, 04:19 AM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Mar 13 2006, 04:19 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A quick search and could not find the URL, but Weasel writes in Dawn...<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
FOSA is Paki organisation, so definitely they are doing their Dharma.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dalit Sikh temples<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Now seperate temples for Dalit Sikhs.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Disappointed With SBE MeetingÂ
Dear Editor,
As a senior at Mission San Jose High School, I went with a group of high school students Feb. 27 to Sacramento to lobby for proper representation of Hinduism in California's sixth grade textbooks (I-W, Mar. 3). We wanted to see clear and accurate information which explained the basic tenets of Hinduism in a respectful manner. This is how all other religions are treated.
I was disappointed by the way the State Board of Education handled the meeting. Many of us did not get to speak, after traveling 100 miles. The board could have accommodated all the remaining speakers by extending the public comment period by 30 minutes.
After the public comments, the board took less than 15 seconds to table and pass the motion, sending the report to the full committee. Most participants were dumbfounded at this egregious action.
<b>What bothered me the most was the actions of one of the speakers, who introduced himself as a scholar and expert in comparative religion. He talked early in the day, defending the "Aryan Invasion Theory" in a very unprofessional way. He wildly waved his arms around and talked erratically. Later, he started arguing with some of the supporters of HEF/VF. What shocked me even more was the fact that he, a scholar, was cursing at the people, who passionately believed in their cause, calling them stupid, idiots and morons. He even screamed profanity, which was so vulgar that I stepped in and told him to watch what he was saying because there were children as young as six in the room. He blew me off and fled the room.
At the end of the meeting, he ran up to the same group of participants he had the argument with and mocked them, exclaiming, "Ha, Ha. You lost." This man was
supposed to be a scholar, but he was screaming like an illiterate street bum. It was sad to see that so-called scholars stooped to petty name-calling.</b>
Rohan Desai
Fremont, Calif. Link
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
STEVE FARMER's best behavior one can't miss.
Now you know, whatever Steve Farmer writies in IER is just <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo--> .
Here comes what Madhulika had mentioned after her SBE first encounter.
03-13-2006, 06:15 PM (This post was last modified: 03-13-2006, 06:16 PM by agnivayu.)
Steve Farmer's behavior doesn't bother me, I am going to in their face for years to come. These loser liars and cheats won't be getting away with anything. If my religion is even insulted a little bit, expect in your face lawsuits. We shall see who is more determined.
On http://www.outlookindia.com/rantsmag.asp?f...me=witzel&sid=2
A nice list
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->My congratulations to FOSA. I want to thank each and every Eminent South Asia Scholar who is a member of FOSA for this very important achievement.
Could someone please list them and their affiliations here? I read somewhere a Hindutva fellow saying that there were 146 South Asia Scholars who are FOSA members.
I know the name of Apron Anna Doray (did I spell that rite, or is it something like Arjun Appadurai? who is an eminent SAS in New York. Recently he was the host of Rakesh something, the guy who was stopped by New York Police for casing the Metropolitan buidling for over an hour.
Then there is Comrade Tariq Ali, who is a very dedicated communist working in an East coast university.
Also there is Dr. Biju Matthew, who is Associate Professor of Business in Rider University. You cannot find a more dedicated Communist.
Professor Badawi explains: "âInstead of divorce, the husband may resort to another measure .. a gentle tap on the body, but never on the face, making it more of a symbolic measure then a punitive one⦠qualified permissible "striking" as that which leaves no mark on the body. a "permissible" act is neither required, encouraged or forbidden. In fact it may be better to spell out the extent of permissibility"
I am so happy that Scholars like these now decide the content of textbooks in California, thanks to FOSA!
Never mind. Here are the Eminent Historians who signed Professor Witzel's letter. Oh! SUCH Scholarship! SUCH Eminence!
1.Dr. Arjun Appadurai, Provost and Professor of Anthropology, The New School.
(See! And these Hindutva were accusing Indologists of being from The Old School! Take THAT, Hindutva! This is such a famous place that you don't have to say where it is. You KNOW where it is, don't you?)
2. Dr. Anjali Arondekar, Assistant Professor of Women's Studies, UC Santa Cruz
(Wow! Assistant Professor at a non-name beach school, and already a World-Famous Prominent Scholar!!)
3. Radhika Balakrishnan, Professor of Economics, Marymount Manhattan College.
(That's almost like being Professor at Biswanath Business Bollege in Bollywoood! Professor of Economics too - those ARE the experts on history and Sanskrit, you know)
4. Dr. Amrita Basu, Professor of Political Science and Womens and Gender Studies, Amherst College.
(Clearly someone who knows everything! "Womens AND Gender Studies - WOW!!! )Amherst College supplies dates for MANY Harvard Business School jocks.
5. Dr. Srimati Basu, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Depauw University. Can you ask for better credentials than THAT? DeClaw University? DeAss University? NOOO DePAUW University!!!)
6. Dr. Dilip Basu, Professor of History, UC Santa Cruz. (TWO World-renowned Indologists on the SAME beach!!! Awesome!)
7. Dr. Kim Berry, Associate Professor and Program Leader, Women's Studies, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA.
There's Harvard, there's Stanford, and above all else, there's Humboldt State! "Program Leader" is like the VERY FIRST STATEMENT in a computer program, like "Copyright Oracle Systems Inc." World class!!
7. Dr. Manu Bhagavan, Department of History, Hunter College, City University of New York. (That's almost as good as being in a ticket booth at a City of New York Subway Station - great center of studies on Indian history and Hinduism)..
More in next post. Is this an AWESOME list or WHAT?
Dr. Rajesh Bhatt, Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics, University of Massachussetts at Amherst.
(Obviously an expert Scholar on Sanskrit..? )
Dr.Purnima Bose, Associate Professor of English and India Studies, Indiana University.
(ENGLISH AND INDIA STUDIES - obviously the right mix of expertise to decide what California children should learn about Indian history. There, HOW can anyone argue with THAT? Everyone knows that even the word "HISTORY" is English, so how can there have been any Indian history before ENGLISH?)
Dr. Carol A. Breckenridge, Associate Professor of History, The New School. Under Provost Appadurai, no doubt... Another devout Hindu, expert on Hinduism.
Dr. Allison Busch, Assistant Professor of Hindi and Indian Literature, Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University.
THERE! What did I tell you? SUCH world-class expertise on so many subjects, at the Assistant Professor level. Expert on anything and everything east of Gibraltar and west of Hawaii. Scholarship at its best! Also, clearly another Hindu.
Dr. Paula Chakravarty, Assistant Professor of Communication, UMass, Amherst. ANOTHER Assistant SCHOLAR! This one on COMMUNICATIONS! (professor of emails? ) And YET another HINDU!
Dr. Sharad Chari, "Geography, London School of Economics, and Development Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal." And here I thought LSE was in London, England! My ignorance. Yes, I can see that expertise in Geography is VERY important to this whole issue.
<b>And here the Scholars' List on Hinduism Experts becomes trylu Awesome: Are you on the edge of your seat? Hold on!</b>
Dr. Munis D. Faruqui, ASSISTANT Professor of South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of California-Berkeley.
Yes, Asalam u Aleikum, Munis miyan, thank you for signing this and teaching these Kafirs a lesson!
Dr. Shelley Feldman, Professor of Development Sociology, Cornell University.
SUCH Relevance to the issue! Clearly another World-Class Sanskrit Scholar and Indian History expert, and of course a practising Hindu!
Dr, Oliver Freiberger, ASSISTANT Professor of South Asian Studies, University of Texas at Austin.
<b>Another Hinduism expert... </b>
Dr. Rosemary George, Associate Professor of LITERATURE, UC San Diego.
COMRADE Dr. Sangeeta Kamat, Associate Professor of International Education, University of Massachussetts, Amherst (Old-time Comrade, co-founder of the PROXSA, FOIL, and FOSA, co-admirer of the UnaBomber etc, with Dr. Biju Matthew).
Dr. Biju Matthew, Associate Professor of Business, Rider University, NJ
(CLEARLY an expert on Indian history..) Especially well-versed on The Communist Manifesto - he spoke at the 100th Anniversary of that recently. Founder of FOIL. Frequent writer in "People's Democracy - Official Organ of the Communist Party of India Marxist-Maoist People's War Group).
COMRADE Dr. Raza Mir, Associate Professor of MANAGEMENT, William Paterson University. Yet ANOTHER PROXSA/FOIL founder. Of course, a devout Hindu name..
Dr. Aamir Mufti, Associate Professor of ENGLISH, UCLA.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Per Times of India report (and others around) FETNA is a front for LTTE (organization banned by US State Dept)
You want these people to have a say in your kids education?</b>
NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding a ban, one of LTTE's front organisations is organising a fund-raiser show in United States this week, which will be attended by leading Indian cine stars and playback singers, according to a report in The Island on Wednesday.
The LTTE is recognised as a terrorist organisation in the United States and all activities such as fund-raising by the LTTE or its front organisations are banned in the US.
The three-day show, organised by LTTE's front organisation, Federation of Tamil Sangams in North America (Fetna), beginning on July 4 at the Patriotsâ Theatre at the War Memorial, Trenton in New Jersey, will be attended by heartthrob Madhavan, Sneha and singers including Shankar Mahadevan and Mahalakshmi, the paper said.
Quoting posters published for the event, the paper said that "<span style='color:red'>Fetna has consistently voiced its support for the protection of human rights in Tamil Eelam and the fundraiser and the convention in New Jersey feature programmes by Eelam Tamils"</span>.
The organisation has put up colourful posters announcing the event and tickets are priced at $ 85, the paper added.
According to the report, <b>Fetna is an umbrella organisation of Tamil associations in North America with nearly 40 member organisations. </b>
Fetna annual conventions have been educational, informative, entertaining and have provided opportunity for all Tamils of US and Canada to come together, the paper said, quoting the release.
Â
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It means <b>LTTE = FETNA = (FOSA+CIIS) = IER ---->Witzel</b>
They are all connected. It means they have links with banned terrorist organization. Witzel had wrote couple of emails gloating FETNA's support.
Do you think Homeland security know?
Now our kids books will be decided by terrorist organization and its supporters.
Romilla Thappar is supporting Rajeev Gandhi's killer.
Perhaps what Condoleeza Rice said earlier about no major wars from now on is correct. We are perhaps seeing a paradigm shift as far as wars are concerned. This is perhaps similar to the protestant reformation. Then reformers figured out that proselytising with sword was a thing of past and came out with secularism as crypto-christianity. This is a similar shift where the outwardly wars will be replaced by crypto-wars will waged with foot-soldiers like MW and his sidekicks for xtianity and euro-centrism has to spread no matter what and the concept of religion itself is suffering setbacks recently.
<!--QuoteBegin-k.ram+Mar 12 2006, 02:37 PM-->QUOTE(k.ram @ Mar 12 2006, 02:37 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->A quick search and could not find the URL, but Weasel writes in Dawn...
<b>Hindu American Foundation Sues California State Board of Education</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Sacramento, CA (Mar. 17, 2006) â The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) filed suit against the California State Board of Education (SBE) in California Superior Court in Sacramento yesterday. After months of repeated correspondence with the SBE and California Department of Education (CDE), HAF filed suit as the foundation contends that a fair and open process was not followed in adopting textbooks that introduce Hinduism to sixth grade students. HAF sued the SBE for failure to perform those duties required by the California Education Code and the Standards of Evaluation of Instructional Materials with respect to Social Content.
<b>"Today Hindu Americans have taken a stand against not only the illegal machinations of the SBE and unfair treatment Hindus received during the textbook adoption process, but also the inaccurate and unequal portrayal of their religious tradition in school textbooks," said Nikhil Joshi, Esq., member of the HAF Board of Directors. "This is about treating Hindus in America and their religion with the same level of sensitivity and balance afforded to other religious traditions and their practitioners," continued Joshi.</b>
The HAF complaint alleges that the SBE violated the law when it approved textbooks for sixth grade history-social science that tend to demean, stereotype, and reflect adversely upon Hindus; that portray Hinduism as undesirable; that hold Hindu beliefs and practices up to ridicule or as inferior; that inaccurately describe and characterize Hinduism; and discourage belief in that religious tradition. HAF identified five areas where the foundation holds that the staff recommended edits were not only inadequate, but also inconsistent.
<b>HAF asks in the lawsuit that 1) the description of the role and status of women in Hinduism be neutral and consistent with the treatment accorded this issue in the context of other religions; 2) the description of the caste system and the social practice of "untouchability" be historically accurate and consistent with descriptions of social inequities in other societies that are falsely perpetrated by some in the name of religion; 3) description of Hindu theology and its understanding of divinity be consistent with the understanding of practicing Hindus; 4) Hinduism not be unfavourably compared with other religions or made to appear as a more regressive or archaic belief system; and 5) the text present the Aryan Invasion or Aryan Migration Theory as one possibility, along with the prevailing view among Hindus that Hinduism is indigenous to India.</b>
On December 2, 2005, SBE's Curriculum Commission initially approved several Hindu edits that addressed these issues. The SBE decided to ignore the Curriculum Commission only in regards to the edits suggested by Hindu groups. HAF further argues that the SBE violated the California Open Meeting Act among other procedural violations when it made numerous private determinations that effectively subverted the public process. The Bagley- Keene Open Meeting Act requires that certain state agency meetings be conducted openly so that the public may remain informed.
<b>HAF is seeking a temporary restraining order to halt the publishing of the textbooks until the issue of whether the textbooks meet the state standards have been resolved by a court of law. </b>Â Â <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>"Weâre dealing with hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars here," stated Suhag Shukla, Esq. HAF Legal Counsel. "We need to ensure that the suggested edits by the Hindu American community are given due consideration and that ultimately the text is fair and accurate before it goes to the print." </b>
An emergency hearing for injunctive relief will be scheduled within the next week. A copy of the complaint and exhibits are available on www.hinduamericanfoundation.org<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--emo&:cool--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/specool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='specool.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>PRESS RELEASE: CAPEEM FIGHTS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST HINDU CHILDREN WITH A LAWSUIT</b>
California Parents for the Equalization of Educational Materials (CAPEEM) has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of California against the California State Board of Education and the California Department of Education.
The complaint was filed with the Federal Court on Tuesday, March 14th, 2006.
The essence of the Complaint is that the California State Board of Education (SBE) and California Department of Education (CDE) violated the civil rights of Hindu schoolchildren by advancing an inaccurate and derogatory picture of Hinduism in sixth grade school textbooks. California State Board meetings on the matter failed to give an adequate voice to Hindu concerns. There has been a violation of Federal and State laws and statutes, as well as CDE and SBE guidelines.
Various Hindu groups and parents participated in this process since the Sixth grade History-Social Sciences textbooks came up for adoption last year. After being let down by the CDE and SBE, the parents decided to go to court and restore their children's civil rights. Many students, both past and present, have spoken to CDE and SBE about their experience in the classroom and that the Hinduism that is taught in the school has nothing to do with what they know and practice at home.
<b>Venkat Balasubramani filed the complaint on CAPEEM's behalf. Balasubramani is an attorney </b>who has worked in the past with public interest groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), on civil rights matters.
For further information please contact Murali Menon
at:
e-mail address: m...@capeem.org
Phone: (310) 804-5126
Web Site: www.capeem.org<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->They Cannot Decide On History
ROMILA THAPAR and MICHAEL WITZEL
Timesofindia.com
The California State Board of Education (CSBE) is currently discussing a very controversial issue. The CSBE has to ask the community for suggestions in regard to the updating of school textbooks.
Ominously unscientific, religious-based materials thus received may now be presented as historical facts. Remarkably, in this case, the religious fundamentalists are not Christian but Hindu.
Initially, the goals of these pressure groups seem benign and even righteous. They aim to rectify culturally biased and insensitive depictions of India and Hinduism and they would like Hinduism to be treated with the same respect as Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
They indeed managed to obtain a few thousand signatures from the 1.6 million South Asians at Hindu temples across the United States.
However, the other agendas being pushed are oddly fami-liar: The first Indian civilisation is 1,900 million years old, the Ramayana and Mahabharata are historical texts to be understood literally, and ancient Hindu scriptures contain precise calculations of the speed of light and exact distances between planets in the solar system.
Further, the American Hindutva lobby is very closely allied to its parent, the RSS, but disguises its divisive political agenda in the language of inclusion, while in India it is predicated on the subjugation of minorities and pluralism in society.
Modest political victories in the US translate into donations and huge political capital at home. California has a large Indian American population and one of the largest school systems in the country.
Changes made there have immediate repercussions for school systems across the whole country. When the California textbooks came up for review, a former (largely unknown) California professor of history and Hindutva sympathiser was approached by a Hindutva foundation and later was appointed to an expert advisory panel serving the CSBE.
He did not disclose his previous Hindutva relationships. One of the Hindutva lobby groups was founded by the American branch of the RSS and the other is owned by a sub-sectarian Hindu temple group out of Austin (Texas) also tied to the American RSS group.
Neither of these facts was disclosed to the CSBE either. When word leaked out to the wider academic community last November, our American academic colleagues, many of whom are Indian American, and those in India, strongly objected to historical inaccuracies championed by the Hindutva lobby.
Not only were many of the suggested revisions factually incorrect but they also explain away those aspects of traditional Indian society that are now a matter of critical concern to Indians in India.
The textbook revisions whitewash the plight of women and the so-called lower castes. Women's history was reduced to "different" rights while the caste system was simply a division of labour.
Approximately 150 South Asian specialists from leading US universities sent a letter to the CSBE, which paused to reconsider their course of action.
Last month they asked one of us (Michael Witzel) to debate the issue with their in-house Hindutva leaning expert, Shiva Bajpai.
The historical inaccuracies were debunked in face-to-face debate but the CSBE put off a final decision to early March â after still another public debate on February 27.
Our letter and actions have provoked a furious but predictable response. Contradictory slurs such as "Nazi", "Hitler", "Racist", "Marxist", "Communist", "Hindu hater", "Race Traitor", "Missionary" and "Creationist" have been directed at us and we had to contact law enforcement agencies.
When the political nature of their campaign was revealed, the American Hindutva lobbyists hurriedly removed information about their links to the RSS from their websites.
The lobbyists will undoubtedly persist even if they are stopped in California. In order to counteract this threat, an international council of scholars, called The Academic Indology Advisory Council now offers its expertise to school boards and publishers.
Hindu nationalists have a legitimate right to pursue their political agenda in India. Hindu Americans have a legitimate right to a fair and culturally sensitive representation in public school curricula.
However, no one has a right to distort the truth and push their own political agendas at the expense of schoolchildren.
For the Hindutva lobby to successfully introduce academically irresponsible, false material into textbooks would be a dishonour to the rich cultural and religious heritage it claims to cherish.
Once we accept one religious group's agenda and beliefs to be taught in public schools, it opens the doors for every other group to do the same thing.
As educators, we should stick to teaching the facts, and allow the teaching of religion to be handled by the real experts: Parents, pastors and priests.
<i>
Thapar is professor emerita of JNU. Witzel is professor of Sanskrit, Harvard University.</i><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/banerjee032206.htm
<b>Muslim Fanatics, Hindus, tolerance Rewarding the Violent, Penalizing the Tolerant</b>
By Ron Banerjee
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
<b>To preserve freedom, it is vital for democratic societies to audit themselves to ensure that our actions encourage behavior in accordance with our core beliefs, and penalize unacceptable conduct. The West is doing the precise opposite in its treatment of Muslim fanatics, especially in comparison to well-behaved minorities like Hindus.</b>
Islamist reactions to Danish cartoons, films about the treatment of Muslim women, or books, which contradict Islamic myths, are well known. The meek surrender of Western media and educational institutions to barbaric Islamist mobs threatens to destroy democracy. Schools and educational institutions are especially complicit: numerous institutions have denied their student newspapers the right to publish the cartoons to avoid 'upsetting' Islamic students.
Curiously, as educational institutions bend over backwards and violate the principles of free speech to curry favor with Muslims (or perhaps to avoid jihadist violence), <b>the educational system in California is taking a bigoted stance with respect to the peaceful Hindu minority. California school textbooks, while treating other religions including Islam with respect, have for years been describing Hinduism in inaccurate and demeaning terms which border on hate literature. The well-known inequality between the genders within Islam are described as 'different roles for men and women', while Hinduism is projected as a faith where 'women were less important than men'. The 'caste system', which has effectively disappeared from modern India, is dwelled on in excessive length; with the implication that it is a common feature even today (nothing could be further from the truth). Hindu beliefs are described as 'myths' while stories from other religions are presented as facts.</b>
Additionally, <b>the discredited 'Aryan invasion' theory is presented as the definitive truth about India's history.</b>
In the 1800s, German thinker Max Muller, whose teachings were forerunners of Nazi ideology, created this supremacist theory, which suggested that the Hindu faith was imposed on India by light-skinned Aryan invaders. It thus implied that Hindus were foreigners who had no right to inhabit India. British colonialists eagerly seized on this racist fantasy to justify their imperial rule. Invaders ruled India by creating hatred and divisions within various Hindu castes by exaggerating caste discrimination among Hindus. The goal was to justify British and other foreign rule by portraying Hinduism as unjust.
Enemies of Hinduism and democracy employ this tactic very successfully today. Despite the fact that democratic India has abolished the caste system and provided enormous benefits to lower castes, <b>various Stalinist and Islamist groups with backing from foreign sources have recruited low caste Hindus and tribes to form virulent terrorist groups who slaughter thousands of people every year. All of these groups wield tremendous influence in the West and operate through numerous front organizations. University campuses, which are often breeding grounds for all leftist and Islamist causes, are infested with 'scholars' and 'professors' who support this virulent bigotry against Hindus.</b>
California school texts have drawn their teachings from this deep reservoir of hate. Despite the fact that other religions also discriminated based on class, race and gender, Hinduism was singled out in these books as being particularly complicit. When Islamic terrorists commit genocide, they are described in school texts as a misguided minority who do not represent the religion as a whole. Hindus apparently do not merit any such consideration: every age-old practice is re-hashed and misrepresented as evidence of the heinous nature of the religion itself.
The issue came to light when young Hindu children disclosed to their parents merciless harassment and physical assaults by classmates. Apparently, it had never occurred to the California school board that systematic demonization of a vulnerable minority would lead to oppression and cruelty. Or perhaps the knowledge that this peaceful minority would not respond by burning embassies or slaughtering civilians marked Hindus as legitimate targets.
Hindu parents and advocacy groups swung into action and proposed edits to the school texts. Organizations such as the Hindu American Foundation and Vedic Foundation backed the edits. The California Board appointed renowned history professor Shiv Bajpai to make recommendations; Dr Bajpai approved most of the changes. By this time the content of the offending texts had been advertised in India and elsewhere, but embassy burnings, killings, and violent protests did not materialize: the Hindu community followed the rules and proceeded by legal means.
Their decent conduct did not yield much benefit. <b>A Germanic Harvard University professor of Sanskrit, Mike Witzel, who has aggressively promoted Aryan invasion theory, jumped into the fray. Mr. Witzel and a coalition of Communists and leftists, supposedly representing lower castes and 'disadvantaged groups', voiced their opposition to the edits. This motley crew included 'Friends of South Asia', whose website promotes an activist named 'Stalin K' and features leftist marches against American policy in Iraq.</b>
These groups immediately began attacking the concerned Hindu parents and supporting organizations by accusing them of whitewashing Hindu history and downplaying caste and gender discrimination. Mr. Witzel made bizarre accusations, implying that these American Hindus were somehow connected to 'Hindu supremacist' political organizations in India. These accusations swayed the California Board: the decision was made to reject a very large number of proposed edits and leave much of the hate literature intact.
The outraged Hindu American Foundation retained a law firm and is committed to fighting the California School Board in court. It is a testament to Hindus that although their children are subjected daily to racially abusive teachings against their faith, and their protests are silenced by non Hindu promoters of hatred and division, this community still does not resort to violence.
On the other hand, Western society is betraying its own values through its hateful treatment of Hindus, and meek submission to violent adherents of other faiths. In addition to bowing our heads with shame, we ought to consider what type of message we are sending to fanatical opponents of our values who seek to destroy civil society.
Ron Banerjee is the director of the Hindu Conference of Canada. He can be
reached at letters@canadafreepress.com<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Prashad looking for Maa Saraswati. Now that is something new.. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> I have a personal investment in a more complex narrative of Indian history. Not only am I a historian who has written such a book (a social history of a Dalit community), but I am also a father. I want my two children to experience an India that has a history to which they can be proud, and yet one that impels them to fight to make the India of our dreams in the future rather than indulge in a fantasy of an India Shining. India could shine. It isnât shining now. Where is Saraswati when we need her?
Vijay Prashad is associate professor
of international studies at Trinity College, Hartford, Conn.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Even a leftist has to sound like a moderate 'Hindu Nationalist' now. Shows you who is really winning.
<!--QuoteBegin-rajesh_g+Mar 23 2006, 02:09 AM-->QUOTE(rajesh_g @ Mar 23 2006, 02:09 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Prashad looking for Maa Saraswati. Now that is something new.. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> I have a personal investment in a more complex narrative of Indian history. Not only am I a historian who has written such a book (a social history of a Dalit community), but I am also a father. I want my two children to experience an India that has a history to which they can be proud, and yet one that impels them to fight to make the India of our dreams in the future rather than indulge in a fantasy of an India Shining. India could shine. It isnât shining now. Where is Saraswati when we need her?
Vijay Prashad is associate professor
of international studies at Trinity College, Hartford, Conn.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
[right][snapback]48904[/snapback][/right]
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Now, the very interesting thing to watch for is if all the red terrorists will walk into courts and put everything on the record. Charity $$$ and aka"dummy" status on the line folks!!! May be I am too hopeful.... <!--emo&:guitar--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/guitar.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='guitar.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Good. Positions will be hardened, defined, documented and lines drawn. Welcome step, regardless of the temp. outcome.
<b>Education board prepares for final textbook edits</b>
<i>Meeting comes after lawsuit filed by Hindu groups claiming inaccuracies in history books</i>
By Jonathan Jones, STAFF WRITER
<b>Members of the California Board of Education began meetings with publishers Thursday for final editing sessions of sixth-grade history textbooks.
The Sacramento meeting comes despite lawsuits filed against the state by two Hindu groups, who challenge the way Hinduism is presented in the books and who say they take issue with the way the state went about its approval process. </b>
Like many other religions, Hinduism encompasses a diversity of belief and practice.
Among scholars and the Indian diaspora, the debate over Indian history has resulted in conflicting interpretations and allegations that groups are attempting to distort the truth with regard to such things as the role of women, the caste system, divinity and the origins of the faith.
Suhag Shukla, legal counsel for the Hindu American Foundation, said the textbooks do not meet state standards for fairness, balance and sensitivity when comparing Hinduism to Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
"We have problems with the portrayal of the status of women and statements of caste discrimination, which is a social practice that is prevalent throughout all South Asian societies and communities," Shukla said. "It's plain wrong to equate it with Hinduism. You don't see slavery or anti-Semitism discussed with Christianity."
The foundation also says the state violated the law by holding private meetingswithout issuing a public notice or taking public comment.
"The way the state has gone about trying to fix things is a reflection of their limited knowledge," Shukla said. "They held closed-door meetings to glean off opinions about Hinduism. That's not the way to do things."
Liz Russell of Teachers Curriculum Institute publishers in Palo Alto said the current dispute is one of the most drawn-out approval processes she's seen in her 25 years in textbook development.
"I feel the state has bent and to ensure that all groups have been heard," Russell said. "I appreciate the input from different (Hindu) groups; they've made us all much more sensitive and much more knowledgeable about Hinduism, and much smarter about the process."
Russell, who will meet with state officials today to discuss the changes, said she's concerned that a protracted legal battle might prevent publishers from getting the textbooks distributed to schools in time for the beginning of the new school year.
<b>Michael Witzel, a professor of Sanskrit at Harvard University who was hired as one of the content experts after sending a letter to the board opposing the proposed edits, refused to comment on the lawsuits. </b>
But he reiterated that the textbooks are about ancient history, and "only to a very small amount" about ancient religion.
"The description of ancient Hinduism in the current edits and the revised textbooks is historically correct and also no longer insensitive," Witzel said in an e-mail. "The same is true with regard to the description (of) women, (which) is clearly referred to as inferior to that of men."
Attorneys for the state have declined to comment on the litigation. Messages left with state Board of Education members were not returned.
Meanwhile, another Hindu group called the California Parents for Equalization of Educational Materials, has filed a federal lawsuit, contending the state violated the civil rights of Hindu schoolchildren.
Murali Menon, an attorney in Los Angeles and a spokesman for the group, said it formed in December for the sole purpose of filing a federal lawsuit, contending there is a better chance of winning in federal court.
"This case is really about civil rights, equal protection and establishing one religion over another," Menon said. "That's really the crux of our complaint."
<b>Anu Mandavilli, a spokeswoman for the Friends of South Asia and the Coalition Against Communalism,</b> said the decision by the Hindu groups to base their case on procedural violations reflects the lack of scholarly support for their historical interpretations.
"We believe that scholars of history are best positioned to capture the multiple voices and histories at stake in the writing of the textbooks, and understand the attempts by (Hindu groups) to involve the courts as a direct result of their having been spectacularly unsuccessful in gaining any support from the community of scholars," Mandavilli said in a written statement.
Mandavilli added that examination of the textbooks by her organizations found other references to the inferior status of women in Ancient Greece and the Samurai era in Japan, challenging the notion that the textbooks present Indian history and Hinduism as inferior to other civilizations.
"We sincerely believe that sensitizing children to social injustice through an honest examination of the past is crucial to creating a progressive society," Mandavilli said.
Earlier this week, a Sacramento Superior Court judge declined to impose a temporary restraining order to keep the textbooks from going to press, and scheduled a hearing for April 21.
Meanwhile, some publishers say they may go ahead with printing and binding the textbooks to ensure they meet the state's deadline for finalized editions to be ready for consideration by school districts by the end of May.
<i>Staff writer Jonathan Jones can be reached at (510) 353-7005 or jjones@angnewspapers.com. </i>
<!--QuoteBegin-rajesh_g+Mar 22 2006, 04:39 PM-->QUOTE(rajesh_g @ Mar 22 2006, 04:39 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Prashad looking for Maa Saraswati. Now that is something new.. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> I have a personal investment in a more complex narrative of Indian history. Not only am I a historian who has written such a book (a social history of a Dalit community), but I am also a father. I want my two children to experience an India that has a history to which they can be proud, and yet one that impels them to fight to make the India of our dreams in the future rather than indulge in a fantasy of an India Shining. India could shine. It isnât shining now. Where is Saraswati when we need her?
Vijay Prashad is associate professor
of international studies at Trinity College, Hartford, Conn.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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Aaare bhai, how can Prashad find Ma Saraswati. Didn't these FOIL and FOSA fight in California to keep Saraswati OUT of textbooks? After the CA edits episode was warped up, Prashad suddenly remembered Saraswati? Is he turning into a Hindutvadi. <!--emo&:blow--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blow.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blow.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Your gig's up Vijay, maybe you are impressing those misguided FOIL and FOSA Hindus who still lend you their ear, you ain't fooling anyone here.
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->