India -demography

Posted by Karthik Iyer

Letter to Rajiv Malhotra

Hi rajiv,
When you first wrote Axis of neocolonialism, it was a path breaking and courageous piece of research. It was a thesis that was hidden deep in the sub-concious of Indians, but was first eloquently expressed by you. Your article, Dialog on Whiteness Studies, continues to push back the ignorance amongst our English educated elite. You are well ahead of your time in terms of the frames of analysis you use. The ideas you express in your articles are subtle and profound. It is always worth a re-read to understand those concepts better.
I have been a huge fan of sulekha newshopper (much less after it's "revamping") and i get a good grasp of the daily events in the world. I realize that now more than ever, it is time to take control of words and their semantics. In the war of words between the various parties, I think even people who do appreciate your point of view often express it in the wrong terminology. Even worse, most of the hindutva supporters are always on the defensive rather than the offensive. Let me illustrate using a few examples.

Benny hill a notorious evangelist from the US recently visited Bangalore. While there was much hue and cry about his subversive attempts at converting the poor and about his maligning of Hindu traditions, no one spoke about the point of view taken by the evangelists and what their repercussions would be (far beyond converting a few to Christianity). It occurred to me that this was a second attempt at colonizing Indian culture and uprooting it. Looked at from this point of view, the actions of Benny hill are more than scandalous, they are criminal. Would any Indian contemplate allowing the British to rule us for another 100 years?? Well then, how can Benny hill whose mission is to similar ends be tolerated? Sad part is while the media has lost it's objective about being the reflection of public opinion, even so called people from the Hindu "right" have not raised these points. America is the new Britain and it is on a mission of "bringing people to the light ". From the point of view of the evangelists, they are doing noble work. They genuinely believe that they will liberate tortured souls into Jesus. But then that was what missionaries from East India Company were out to do as well. To reform the "junglees" of India. How come such a point of view was never projected in the Indian media or for that matter by any hindutva brigade as well?
Therefore the allowance of such people into India is dangerous. Let us not revisit the horror and devastation of colonization. If we do not learn from history, we will be doomed to repeat it.
So whenever people like Benny hill come to India, Indians must be made aware that we will are in danger of being re-colonized and that such people should not be allowed to enter the country.

Let me come to my next point.
I recently saw a cover article in TIME magazine about the 25 most influential evangelicals in the US. While reading through their profiles, one point stood out more than the rest. All except one were white. I realized that in a surreptitious way, beyond just trying to spread Christianity, it was a white supremacist/ racist movement under the covers. Just like 400 yrs ago, white supremacy was raising its ugly head again. Only it is cloaked in the garb of Christianity this time. This is the reason there is overwhelming support for Bush in the "Red" states. They were all hotbeds of racism in the past and continue to retain vestiges of it. While all this might sound like a conspiracy, it is not. Simply because it is a phenomenon that even many whites aren’t consciously aware of. The explicit reasoning is that Bush appeals to the Christian religious values, but unconsciously people vote him because he thinks like a "Red Neck". No wonder the blacks are confused as who might represent them best. Should they vote for Bush because he is a devout Christian or avoid him for his white supremacist views?
Should they vote for Kerry for his liberal, pro minority sympathies or avoid him for his support for homosexuality and secularism??
The war in Iraq is being fought along religious lines (no matter what bush might say about spreading "freedom"), but religious fault lines and race lines match very seamlessly in this case.
Christianity also includes other races like blacks and Asians. So aren't they part of the team?? Actually, no. People like Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice are the compliant blacks who go by the will of their masters. Rather than being a showcase for black achievement, they show that blacks who think like whites and implicitly accept white ideals will be tolerated and displayed as public trophies. Why Christianity is being promoted is because it legitimizes a new form of asserting racial supremacy. Christianity today consistently evokes an image of a white person, bible in hand out to conquer the world. History repeats itself again!! It is difficult to escape the close correlation between being a white person and Christian person today.

Finally on a different note, I wanted to mention about usage of words and their semantics. I have noticed that people keep hating "secularists" and seculars. I think it is erroneous use of words. What they are is pseudo-seculars and not seculars. The founding fathers of India used their utmost rationality and humanity into drafting the Indian Constitution. It is time that people who pretend to be secular are taught its true meaning and import. Secularism arose in Europe after many centuries of religious persecution, as a progressive ideal and that put humans before religion. But there are no torch bearers for secularism in the world today. Consequently it has lost its idealism and its meaning is being subverted to suit low political ends. The Congress in India might have arisen out of the noble and just minds of leaders like Gandhi. But the Congress lost its 'secular' credential right at the beginning of our independence. That is why Gandhi had suggested disbanding the Congress. A need felt more today than ever before. They have however retained the title of "secular" party while parties like the BJP are called "saffron/communal/rightist". Where the Congress truly practices its secular trade is in corruption, nepotism and sycophancy. They do not distinguish whom they loot or whom they destroy. The religion of the victim does not matter to them. Secularism and appeasement do not equate. Hence being extra careful of Muslim sentiments only alienates the Hindu community more. The grievances of Hindus are disregarded merely for not being the minority. What is this if not communalist thinking??
Currently many media houses have taken over the "responsibility" of secularism. It takes many forms but is essentially hypocrisy in different forms. Times of India has converted to a tabloid style paper laced with scandalous news and scantily clad women. No attempt is made to do real investigative reporting. If they had their way, India would be consisting of the metropolitan cities where the rich and the famous rollick and frolick. To add to their secular credentials, they add a few reports bashing Hinduism and hide Muslim names by giving a catch all term: "minority community". The Indian express which was the bastion of investigative reporting in the 70's and 80's has been reduced to a suppliant media that regularly sings paeans of 10 janpath street (Sonia Gandhi). Non-implementation of UCC shows that secularism is not practiced, just preached, whether by Congress or the media. Godhra and Gujarat happened because of the failure of government to stop the talibanisation of Indian Muslims by organizations like ISI. The more the appeasement continues, the more the country will slip into anarchy. And it will be the English media as well as the Congress which have to share the blame and face the consequences.
What is needed in India today, is a comprehensive media oversight body that monitors English as well as vernacular press.
I have been motivated to write this letter in order to share my thoughts. I request you to enable more research through your Infinity foundation in some of the directions I have suggested in my letter. For example, a full fledged article by you or your staff about the racial and religious connections of evangelism will open the eyes of many people.
Regards,
Karthik Iyer
nyaan.blogspot.com

Letter to NYT about Wendy doniger's book

Dear Editor,
This is regarding the article about Wendy Doniger's book that appeared Online at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/31/books/31conn.html
titled: The Scholar who irked the Hindu puritans.

This article projects doniger as a lone scholar braving assaults from hindu fundamentalists. While rothstein is charmed by the photograph of a young doniger on the pages of her book, one wonders what bearing that has to her scholarship of hinduism. The fact that eggs were thrown at her and "threatening" emails sent to her is brandished proudly to pad her celebrity status.Based on superficial research with a eagerness to explain anything and everything in terms of freud's theories on sexuality, she arrives at erroneous interpretations of hindu mythology. Of course, raising doubts or putting up counter-points (Like Rajiv Malhotra did) is beyond question. You will be deemed an "Attacker" or part of the hindu "right", as if no sane person might raise such doubts. At no point in time is an attempt made to see issues from the point of view of indigenious cultures, rather freud seems to explain everything just fine. As Indians emerged from the 250 years of colonialism, and struggled with developing their country, People like doniger thrived in peddling second rate fiction as research. Since 1990 when the influx of Indian professionals in the US increased and Many Indians found the spare time to revisit their cultures, it was a profound shock to many, how tabloid-style pop theories made up for research in Hindu studies. It also added to the burden of many Indians who had to explain to innocent Americans that perversion was not a way of life in india. No doubt such theories fed into the popular version of a weird, chaotic , "junglee" India that was passed out during colonialism. Obviously how such an image coheres with the current fad of yoga and meditation is never delved into.It is indeed amazing, as was put by many people like rajiv malhotra, that while Islamic studies or jewish studies has been dominated by "insiders" who practice the religion, Indians demanding a similar setup for hindu studies is demonised, by seeing it as "attempts to take over".In an attempt to polish off any serious questions that might asked about her research, doniger seems concerned that a "righteous revolution" might become a "reign of terror". Neither of which seem to in the minds of people like Rajiv, who are attempting to bring in serious research into the field. Can freud maybe explain the "terror" doniger is mentioning about??
regards,
Karthik Iyer

Kanchi - Letter of Support

Letter of Support
Hari Om,
The recent trail of events surrounding the arrest of the Honorable Sri
Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal has caused a lot of hindus pain and
grief. Bharat is land of religion and spirituality from time immemorial.
The spiritual culture of Bharat has been cultivated painstakingly by the
great rishis through their supreme sacrifices. It is their hard work that
has given Bharat the fortitude and tolerance to survive many centuries
of cruel domination at the hands of misguided foreigners. While many
countries enjoy the fruits of abundance of material resources, it is
Bharat that has been the sole beacon of spirituality and religion.
Despite a sheer diversity of cultures, people, languages, food habits,
dress codes and belief systems, the common thread of spirituality
unites us all as a single entity. Knowing the value of such knowledge,
the self-realized rishis of this ancient country have toiled to imbibe it
into our blood. And thanks to tireless efforts, they have succeeded. It
is from such eminent history, coming down from the age of Sri Adi
Sankracharya to the current day Peeths that have bequeathed this
great heritage, that the selfless service of society continues. The
Kanchi Matha represents a shining example of Bharat’s spiritual
tradition in practice. It is amongst the oldest and most pious of
spiritual and social service organizations in the country. The current
pontiff of the Kanchi Matha , the Honorable Sri Jayendra Saraswati
Swamigal, has continued with the tradition of excellence, as was given
to his holiness. In the past few decades, it is Swamiji who has been
instrumental in spreading the light of Hinduism across the country. His
holiness has also worked at breaking the traditional shackles current
Society like caste barriers, poverty and illiteracy. His Holiness
represents the foutainnhead of the Knowledge of Advaita and Vedanta.
Given His Holiness’ important role in Society and Country, it causes
extreme pain and anger at the treatment that has been meted out to
him in the past few weeks. It is a cause of grave concern, as to why
such a leading light of Hinduism is being persecuted and treated with
disrespect. The sensitivities of all hindus has been disregarded when
His Holiness was taken away by the police in the middle of the night,
by lying that His Holiness was needed for some questioning. All
throughout this process, His Holiness, the Kanchi Matha, as well as
devotees have acted with exemplary patience and civility. To date, as
is well known, not a single case has stood up in court so far, despite
desperate attempts to malign His Holiness. The mysterious ways in
which new allegations are being thrown from all directions, smacks of
a revenge motive against His Eminence. While the original allegation of
sankaraman’s murder has crumbled in front of the court, new
allegations keep getting thrown. In the meanwhile a broad assault on
all of Hinduism continues. It appears that anybody close to Swamiji
will pay for their devotion. Witnesses are being tortured to "confess"
about a plot being hatched in the Matha to murder sankaraman. Such
are the travesties of the Indian Law "following its own course".
Meanwhile, quite cruelly, the majority of the Tamil media has taken up
the role of Judge, Jury and Police on itself with uninhibited glee. In a
world where media circulation is king and political affiliations bring
easy money, a "juicy" titbit like His Holiness being persecuted, is
reported with at most abandon and prejudice. Knowing very well that
the matha is powerless to stop such caustic attitude, the media is bent
upon squeezing the most copies out of each development in this case.
The people of Tamil Nadu are being misled by the "Flights of Fantasy"
the media is taking. The matha is new to such rough handling by the
media.
While the "Law takes one course" for Swamiji , it seems to take a
different course for Jayalalitha, whose Financial scandal cases were
summarily dismissed by the Supreme Court. The one crucial question,
the Jayalalitha govt. doesn’t want anyone to ask, the media has
carefully ignored and the people have obviously missed was: How
could Jaya, who was known to be a devotee of Swamiji, be helpless
while the police arrested the Ascetic on mere allegations?
The Answer is obvious to the people who are willing to accept it. The
persecution and revenge is not happening inspite of her.
We, the devotees of the Kanchi Matha continue to pray for the safety
and justice of hindus. Our belief in Hinduism in general and The Kanchi
matha in particular has strengthened. The struggle for getting justice
for swamiji and the Kanchi matha will be renewed. Let not the civility
and tolerance of hindus be mistaken for cowardice. We pray that God
grants justice, peace and happiness to all of us and hope that Indian
Law is not hijacked in the hands of the few who are vengeful.
With prayers,
Karthik Iyer
USA

Q&A sessions

Q&A Sessions

Namaste !!
I am a citizen of India and a student who is studying in the United States. As a pastime, I read up all kinds of news from various sources. The internet has exponentially expanded the amount of knowledge available at one’s fingertips coupled with a certain raw energy of how it is portrayed. A medium which has not yet suffered from the censorship that typically is enforced in print and Audio-visual media. As a result one gets the raw and sometimes uncomfortable truth while browsing the internet. People may not necessarily be politically correct and racial or religious slurs can be easily encountered. While heaping racial or religious slurs is not the nicest way to talk, if one peels off the layers on top, it is interesting to see the feelings associated with it. Many such people post anonymously. But despite that and after you sieve off the nasty language, you get to see a true portrayal of people’s feelings, unjudged by any criteria. Everybody’s deepest darkest desires are available for open inspection. That is the biggest asset of the internet today. Eventually even this great “Wild West” will be brought under control and soon most content will be cleaned, filtered, sweetened and beautified to let us live ignorant but blissful lives. But that is still some time far away yet.
Let me get back to my original thread!!
In India, since childhood, I have been a voracious reader of magazines and news papers. I used to read any book I could lay my hands on. Reader’s digest, business world, Times of India, tinkle, Amar chitra katha, chandamama, encyclopedias…
Since coming to the US, the ubiquity of the internet has exponentially increased my knowledge base and help get a deeper appreciation of foreign events as well. In addition I have had informed debates with different colleagues of mine to get a handle on issues that might be peculiar to their region/religion.
I am going to start below a Q&A session, which was a heated debate with some of my friends with whom I otherwise have a very good relationship. I am writing this up, because I think a lot of Indians tend to create facts out of thin air or do not follow logic, just so that they can have peace of mind. I am writing it up to the extent I can remember and am hopefully making full justice to their point of view as well. I am a reasonable person, so if you can convince me about Facts and figures I will adopt your point of view. I do not judge people, if they do not agree with me and I am not dogmatic or stubborn. So please let me know, if you find loopholes in my arguments.

Based on a discussion with three of my friends

Friend 1: You know what? I heard people make stupid arguments that Muslim population is increasing in India rapidly because one muslim marries 4 women and each women has four children of her own and thus there are 16 children in one family, compared to 2 in a Hindu household.
Me: How is this argument wrong??
Friend 1 : Come on !! Each women still has the same number of children, right? Per head, the number of children is still the same. Only that more than one woman might have the same husband. So obviously they are roughly increasing in the same numbers as hindus.
Me: Hmmm… Well the ratio of the sexes in the population is roughly 50:50, right? So in a group of 100 muslims, on an average there are 50 men and 50 women. Now in this argument we have accepted that 1 muslim man marries 4 women. So that means not more than 12 males can get muslim females. Now that means that there are still a lot muslims males left without female partners. By the way, have you seen a lot of muslims bachelors moving around??
Friend 1: (repeats his previous argument, only shouts it out this time. Says he had logically proven how growth rates in muslims are roughly similar to hindus)
Me: (repeat my argument, try to shout it out as well.)
Me: The remainder of the muslim men therefore seek out women from outside the religion, especially Hinduism, to get married to. Thus the ratio of 1:4 is maintained and each family has 16 children.
Friend 1: Yes, but for every woman, the number of children is still the same. Although it is a cause for concern that the hindu women marry muslims and convert to Islam.
Me: Hindu women marrying and going into islam is a cause for concern, but it is a separate issue, not directly relevant to our discussion. The point is Hindu women marrying into Islam and producing 2-4 children alters the ratio of hindu to muslim growth rate.
Friend 1: It is a problem caused by hindus only. We are to blame if hindu women marry into Islam.
Me: Yes, but that is not the topic we are discussing here. We are talking about growth rate of muslims here.
Friend 1: What are you trying to say that hindus have not increased in numbers as well?? Hindus also breed like rabbits, that is why we are having a huge population to manage in india today.
Me: obviously number of hindus have gone up as well. But growth rate of muslims is higher than hindus
Friend 1: Yes, but we must install some population control measures in general. How can you target muslims ??. Population growth is high in states like Uttar Pradesh Bihar, MP etc? Where are muslims alone the cause? We must concentrate on reducing population in these states in general.
Me: Agreed, We need birth control measures to control the population. Hindus can be convinced to some extent to use contraceptives. But such a measure is rejected by muslims because it hurts their religious sentiments. So they do not allow implementation of birth control
Friend 1: Yes but in UP, Bihar etc. even hindus have 4 children per family.
Me: Despite such explosive growth in hindus, the percentage of muslims in the overall population has increased. Naturally their growth rate is higher. It has been potrayed that by 2050 at this current rates of growth, muslims will become the majority in some states. --
Friend 1: Yes, but such population explosion happens more in poor and uneducated people. Educated muslims have 2 children per family.
Me: It is true that education reduces population growth and uneducated people have more babies than the educated. Amongst educated people the growth rate of muslims would generally be the same as the hindus (actually slightly higher).
Friend 1: Similarly in uneducated people hindus and muslims have the same growth rate.
Me: While uneducated hindus do have more babies, muslims tends have even more babies than that.
Friend 1: yes, But we have to generally control the population. Why are we focusing on the muslims??
Me: Because hindus can still be convinced to use birth control measures, muslims reject any semblance of birth control due to religious reasons.
Friend 1: Look, the only solution to this is education. Educated people tend to have less babies.
Me: True. But muslims generally do not prefer govt schools. They go to madrassas and are consequently illiterate in the knowledge of the present day world. The quran is force fed into them.
Friend 1: Look the govt, should go out and educate everybody.
Me: Yes, but the muslims do not heed to the call. They continue to go to madrassas. Consquently they have no knowledge of the sciences or arts and only know the quran by heart.
Friend 1: Look just stop singling out muslims OK? Stop spreading such hate!!
Me: (Flabbergasted) When did I preach hate?? I am only giving out facts and figures. All I have tried to present so far, is that Muslim growth rate is higher than the hindu growth rate
Friend 1: People like you single out a particular community and cause violence and hate!! All you guys will talk about is cut-chop-kill. Stop this violence and think about India’s progress man !! There are 14 crore muslims in india, you want to eliminate all of them??
Me: (Still reeling from the old accusation, when he hits me with this new one). But I never mentioned the words “cut-chop-kill” anytime during my discussion. I was only trying to present facts I know of. How come you can only think of only violence?? I never suggested violence in any of my statements so far. Why can’t we agree on such a simple fact? Who is talking of eliminating muslims? Can we not agree that the muslim growth is outpacing hindus?? How can you guys think of violence as the only solution? Did any one even suggest Birth Control as a measure??
Friend 1: Look, all muslims are not like that OK? Isn’t Azim premji is a muslim and what about our president Abdul kalam?
Me: Yes, but thay are the exceptions, not the rule. Show me percentages of educated v/s uneducated muslims.
Friend 1: I have studied with as many as 10-12 muslim students in my classroom. They were just as hard working as anybody else.
Me: Again, that is anecdotal evidence. Show me the statistics. Tell me percentage of educated Muslims in India. About 60% of muslims are uneducated in India compared to a 25% illiteracy rate for Hindus (Note: I verified my statement by looking up census figures. The muslims literacy is around 50 % while the hindu literacy is 65%. So the gap is not appaling though significant)
Friend 1: We have so many problems in our country. People are dying of hunger and poverty. We need to tackle that. Rather we talk about muslims needlessly.
Me: But then I am talking of the same issues as well. People need to be taken out of hunger and poverty. The govt has only finite resources. So the first thing we must do is control population growth. But then muslims are not amenable to any talk of birth control. So then how can hunger and povery problems be solved??
Friend 1: (Wishing the problem away) Look if there are too many muslim poor being born they will die of starvation anyway, so why bother?
Me: But then you just said the hunger and poverty have to be tackled, now you are giving up so easily? Besides, no one will die. There will be an armed insurrection if muslims are left out for being poor. They will be more prone to take up violence with a little help from the Pakistanis. The Naxalite problem gives out ample evidence of this (poor and oppressed people taking up arms to get justice)
Friend 1: Our govt is a huge failure. Unlike Western countries we do not have honest sincere leaders.
Me: Our country has gone through a lot of trials and tribulations. No doubt our politicians aren’t the best of the lot. But then this is not Pakistan where some sundry general decides to take over and run the country. The Leaders who are corrupt are the ones we put in place through democratically voted elections. Voted by people like us. So the ball is back in our court!!
Friend 1: Screw it man !! we should throw all the politicians in the trash can!! Some dictator should come and rule over us. Communism is perhaps the best philosophy.
Me: Well as you can see, no communist country was able to survive the 21st century (China being a capitalist in communist clothing). Their ideals were indeed noble but not realistic. In an ideal world we would dream of a wolrd where there is not disctinction based on caste, class, religion or race. But we cannot force-fit that philosophy into the real world. You might take over the world with benevolence in your heart, but once you start forcing decisions down people’s throat, it creates trouble. After all the biggest dictators in the world, Stalin, Hitler etc genuinely had good feelings for their country. But see the number of humans they killed and the death and destruction they caused. Communism is not an option, only an ideal.
Friend 1: We Indians are not United. We are distributed into so many factions and sects. We must unite
Me: (sarcastically) I can see the unity in this room. If four of us cannot agree on a point of view, then why to expect it from indians in general?
Friend 1: (irritatedly) Look. why are you convincing us? Go to India and convince the people there.
Me: If i cannot convince 3 people sitting in the room here, i cannot imagine the job that is awaiting me in india.
Friend 1: (cheekily) Ok, we are convinced. Now you can leave for india.
Me: Ok, I will leave for India. Let's go.
Friend 1: Who me? I am not coming. Why should i come?
Me: But i just thought that you were convinced. So i thought you would come with me to help me do the job.
Friend 1: Look. why are you convincing us... (Argument circles around again!!)

This Q&A illustrates the nature of arguments that take place. I am still open to logical arguments and find them enriching. I also admit that although we had a bitter, noisy discussion, I learnt a lot from it as well. Despite being poles apart in views I continue to cherish the friendship and camaraderie that I enjoy with them.
References:

• http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/2004/01-15Oct04-Print-Edition/011510200495.htm
• http://www.sulekha.com/news/ThreadComment.aspx?cid=545943