Guest guest Posted December 6, 2001 Report Share Posted December 6, 2001 Recently, Vishal Agarwal has reacted to my straightforwad information about D.N. Jha's new book on the Cow in a rather prolific way, including some unconnected hearsay and baseless rumors about DN Jha (and about K N Pannikkar, not connected with the question at all). To achieve some balance, I have transmitted that email to DN Jha ( "Prof. D N Jha" <dnjha ) and have asked for his reaction. Here it is: >INDOLOGY, Agarwal wrote: >VA: As far as I am aware, 1-2 district courts have placed a stay >order on its publication and so the book is not banned technically. >Books can be banned in one state and can still be sold in other >states... "Banned" or "not banned", this is obfuscating and neither here nor there: the book is under a defacto "non imprimatur" and general pan-Indian sales stop: DN JHA: "The Jain Seva Sangh and Aadi Vipra Samaj went to a Hyderabad court on 7th August and obtained a court injunction restraining me from printing, publishing and releasing the book HOLY COW:BEEF IN INDIAN DIETARY TRADITIONS. Fortunately, some copies were already sold before the court order came so that anyone having a copy can perhaps cite it. Now the order is operative throughout India and the book will not be published until the court injunction is vacated. Such injunctions are much worse than the govt.'s executive orders banning books. I am contesting the court order but I'm not sure if I will ever win the case given the resources of the Hindutva organisations. The famous Indian writer Khushwant Singh's autobiography was similarly injuncted and the injunction has been vacated after more than 5/6 years of leagal battle in Delhi, though the case itself is still lingering on.My situation is much worse-- I'm fighting the court case in Hyderabad, not in Delhi!Moreover, I do not have the resources that Khushwant Singh has. Also, it might be of interest to you that I have been receiving letters (copies being sent to the President, Prime Minister, etc) asking me apologise for writing the book. The VHP and its affiliates and the various Jain organisations have been very active on this front. " *** As for the unwarranted (what connection to writing of cultural history?) and unwanted rumor mongering, -- unworthy of and inapproriate in an Indology list - , Agarwal wrote; >Incidentally, Dr. Bharat Gupt recalls a conversation with D N Jha (in >the 1970's) wherein the latter remarked that he hates music but >listens to it only because Karl Marx also listened to music. D N Jha >is considered a 'liberal' historian (the new name of 'Marxist' >historians after the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union) ... DN Jha: " Bharat Gupt, I'm told, teaches (I don't know which subject) in an undergraduate college of Delhi University. I don't remember to have met this great man during the last twenty six years that I have been in Delhi.So the question of his ever talking to me remains doubtful. As regards my love/hatred for music, I am a lover of music.I have a preference for instrumental music ( e.g.,Ravishankar, Richard Clayderman, Beethoven, Brahms, etc) and I possess their CDs.In vocal music, I have a liking for gazals, Mirza Ghalib being my favourite. But all this is part of my private lifeabout which Bharat Gupt can fabricate as many lies as he likes." And what is the connection of the Cow book with this? : Again, Agarwal: >On a related note, recall that in Kerala, K N Pannikkar, another >liberal historian, was made the Vice Chancellor of Kaladi Sanskrit >University by the ex-Communist government of that state..... Best, MW ======================================================== Michael Witzel Department of Sanskrit & Indian Studies, Harvard University 2 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge MA 02138, USA ph. 1- 617-496 2990 (also messages) home page: http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/mwpage.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 6, 2001 Report Share Posted December 6, 2001 I hope to provide an explanation of my own intent, to balance Professor Witzel's message. I do not wish to prolong this discussion hereafter. There is considerable literature on the question of beef eating in ancient India, and I have made it abundantly clear in the past that the current evidence from texts and archaeology clearly supports that beef was eaten in olden times in India. INDOLOGY, Michael Witzel <witzel@f...> wrote: > "Banned" or "not banned", this is obfuscating and neither here nor there: > the book is under a defacto "non imprimatur" and general pan-Indian sales > stop: VA: Please refer to your message 1758 on this list wherein you say that the book has been 'officially banned like the Satanic verses'. My response merely corrected this terminology. The correct wording could have been 'unofficially banned'. > > DN JHA: > "The Jain Seva Sangh and Aadi Vipra Samaj went to a Hyderabad court on 7th > August and obtained a court injunction restraining me from printing, > publishing and releasing the book HOLY COW:BEEF IN INDIAN DIETARY > TRADITIONS. I am contesting the > court order but I'm not sure if I will ever win the case given the resources > of the Hindutva organisations. VA: I personally do not see any connection between the Jain Sewa Sangh / Aadi Vipra Samaj and the 'Hindutva' organizations. The fact is that that there are clearly alternative views and interpretations of many of such passages in Jaina/Buddhist and Hindu cannons and works such as that of D N Jha quote their sources very selectively. An objective writing of history and culturally study, especially on controversial topics, should take into account alternative views and then support/reject/qualify them. It is wrong to characterize any objections to these 'liberal' views as 'Hindutva'. > As for the unwarranted (what connection to writing of cultural history?) > and unwanted rumor mongering, -- unworthy of and inapproriate in an > Indology list - , Agarwal wrote; > > >Incidentally, Dr. Bharat Gupt recalls a conversation with D N Jha (in > >the 1970's) wherein the latter remarked that he hates music but > >listens to it only because Karl Marx also listened to music. VA: In his response, D N Jha certainly DOES NOT deny his communist affiliations. It is also possible that Bharat Gupt remembers meeting him but D N Jha has forgotten what was a chance encounter in a public meeting (as I understand Dr. Gupt's relevant post elsewhere). My intent was not rumour mongering, because I had clearly stated the source of my information. The intent of this message was to show that such scholarship is not 'unmotivated' or free of 'ideological affiliations' and that many 'objective' scholars do have political connections in India. > Again, Agarwal: > >On a related note, recall that in Kerala, K N Pannikkar, another > >liberal historian, was made the Vice Chancellor of Kaladi Sanskrit > >University by the ex-Communist government of that state..... VA: The message was written after reading the words 'officially banned' in your original message INDOLOGY/message/1758 I had intended to state that political interference in Academia is seen in the case of all political organizations in India. For most part, the Eminent Historians have actually benefited from this arrangement - monetarily, politically and ideologically. Hope this closes the discussion. Best, Vishal Agarwal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 7, 2001 Report Share Posted December 7, 2001 A Jain point-of-view of the D.N. Jha book is at http://www.jainsansaronline.com/newsreview/ A news-item about the activities of the Hyderabad Jain Seva Sangh is at http://www.indiatimes.com/toit/06mhyd8.htm This is one of the two groups that moved the Hyderabad court against Jha's book, as per http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/08/09/stories/0209000p.htm A Hindutva connection is not clear. -Arun Gupta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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