Welcome

Website counter
website hit counter
website hit counters

Saturday, September 26, 2015

RSS rejects Western Science, but its ideology inspired from Western Social Sciences

INDIAN EXPRESS Reports:

RSS rejects Western Science, but its ideology inspired from Western Social Sciences

-- 

RSS may now reject Western science, but its ideology draws inspiration from the Western social sciences

rss, rss ideology, rss on western ideology, rss science, rss comments, mohan bhagwat, Bharatiya Shiksha Niti Ayog, rss news, editorials, indian express

RSS cadres during a Shastra pujan celebration in Nagpur. (Express Photo by Sudarshan Sakharkar)Last week, during a meeting with leaders of the RSS, the Union culture minister committed himself to "cleanse every area of public discourse that has been Westernised and where Indian culture and civilisation need to be restored — be it the history we read or our cultural heritage or our institutes that have been polluted over years". This commitment was well in tune with previous declarations. Y. Sudershan Rao, who has been appointed chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research has similarly been a forceful advocate of the Indianisation of the writing of history, for instance. In an interview to the Organiser, he declared: "I honestly feel that Indian social science research in general and history research in particular is dominated by Western perspectives, in the name of liberal or left perspectives. Most of us see  through [a] Western prism — may be because under British rule we began considering and understanding Indian history from their point of view… every nation has the right to write its own history from its own perspective, with certain national objectives. I call this process as 'Indianisation'. At best you can call it a patriotic approach."

The RSS has already set up a consultative body, the Bharatiya Shiksha Niti Ayog (BSNA, brainchild of the RSS-affiliated Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas) to "suggest corrective steps" to "Indianise" the system. Among the most prominent members of the BSNA was Dinanath Batra, the man responsible for the pulping of Wendy Doninger's book on Hinduism in 2013.

This rejection of "Western science" sounds somewhat paradoxical for two reasons. First, many RSS leaders have been trained as scientists in the Western way: K.B. Hedgewar was a doctor; his mentor, B.S. Moonje, was an ophthalmologist; M.S. Golwalkar studied and taught zoology; Rajendra Singh, who became sarsanghchalak in 1994, graduated in physics; H.V. Seshadri, who was to become general secretary of the organisation, in chemistry; and K.S. Sudarshan, predecessor of Mohan Bhagwat, in engineering. Bhagwat himself graduated in veterinary sciences.

Second, and more importantly, the ideology of the RSS itself draws inspiration from the Western social sciences, including political science, whose key concepts of state and nation have created within Hindu nationalism what Partha Chatterjee would call a "derivative discourse". This is evident from the ideological charter of the RSS, We, or Our Nationhood Defined, that Golwalkar, who was to become RSS chief in 1940, wrote a year before that. In this book, Golwalkar emphasises the necessity to emulate Western conceptions of nationalism and disregard those that were then dominant in India, under the influence of Gandhi: "We believe that our notions today about the nation concept are erroneous. They are not in conformity with those of the Western political scientists we think we are imitating. It is but proper, therefore, at this stage, to understand what the Western scholars state as the universal nation idea and correct ourselves."

The political scientists to whom Golwalkar repeatedly refers to are mostly German-speaking, like Johann Kaspar Bluntschli. He differentiated the German view of the nation, which is rooted in ethnic characteristics, from that of the English and French, who, according to him, regard as nationals all those who inhabit the territory of
their states.

Indeed, there are two variants of nationalism in the West, the ethnic and the territorial. The latter implies a kind of political contract: Nationals pay allegiance to their state, which, in return, recognises them as citizens and protects them. In contrast, the former is rooted in some ethnic identity, as Bluntschli himself suggests: "The essence of a people lies in its civilisation [kultur]… It may be called an organism in so far as its character has received a visible expression in the physique of the race and in language and manners". Golwalkar and his followers drew their inspiration from this school of thought; RSS thinkers use "sanskriti" in the sense of "kultur" and "samskar" in the sense of "manners".

The other Western political scientists referred to by Golwalkar, whose books were available at the Benares Hindu University, where he studied, adopted a similar view of the nation, even when they were not German — like John W. Burgess, Raymond Garfield Gettell, Arthur N. Holcombe and Ludwig Gumplowicz. Golwalkar read their books and cited them to support his anti-Congress arguments. While he came to be known as "guruji", he made it a point to learn the meaning of nationalism from Western political scientists. He rejected the territorial version of nationalism and criticised the Congress for adhering to it because it implied that all those who were born in India, including Muslims and Christians, were full-fledged nationals. He drew his inspiration from what he considered to be the "true" Western definition of the nation, which was rooted in the German approach.

This "cultural nationalism", to use a phrase that Golwalkar never used but which the RSS and the BJP use today, did not make  a priority. Golwalkar regarded it as merely a cultural manifestation that could be used to "cement" national unity. In this context, he considered the national  of the Soviet Union to be socialism, with Karl Marx as its "prophet"; it was irrelevant that this was "a which does not believe in god". For those who believe in "cultural nationalism",  is more a marker of identity than a spiritual necessity, as much in the West as in the East.

Anyway, as Rabindranath Tagore showed in a remarkable series of lectures in Japan and the US in 1916-17, neither the East nor the West can be identified with the "right" or "wrong" ("good" or "bad") form of nationalism. Both versions are present in every country, in the West as much as in the East — as is evident from the global rise of forms of xenophobia today. Similarly, "good" science, including history, is not the sole preserve of the West or the East. It is that which passes the test of reason. Countries that have ignored this simple reality have usually become obscurantist. Naturally, obscurantists or ideologues claim that their findings are based on scientific methods. On September 18, the Union culture minister inaugurated an exhibition at the Lalit Kala Akademi providing "astronomical references and scientific evidences" dismissing the theory of "Aryan invasions". If a scientific method has to be followed, this scientific evidence has to be confronted with other scientific evidence that supports divergent conclusions.

The writer is senior research fellow at CERI-Sciences Po/CNRS, Paris, professor of Indian Politics and Sociology at King's India Institute,, and non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Pl see my blogs;


Feel free -- and I request you -- to forward this newsletter to your lists and friends!

No comments:

मैं नास्तिक क्यों हूं# Necessity of Atheism#!Genetics Bharat Teertha

হে মোর চিত্ত, Prey for Humanity!

मनुस्मृति नस्ली राजकाज राजनीति में OBC Trump Card और जयभीम कामरेड

Gorkhaland again?আত্মঘাতী বাঙালি আবার বিভাজন বিপর্যয়ের মুখোমুখি!

हिंदुत्व की राजनीति का मुकाबला हिंदुत्व की राजनीति से नहीं किया जा सकता।

In conversation with Palash Biswas

Palash Biswas On Unique Identity No1.mpg

Save the Universities!

RSS might replace Gandhi with Ambedkar on currency notes!

जैसे जर्मनी में सिर्फ हिटलर को बोलने की आजादी थी,आज सिर्फ मंकी बातों की आजादी है।

#BEEFGATEঅন্ধকার বৃত্তান্তঃ হত্যার রাজনীতি

अलविदा पत्रकारिता,अब कोई प्रतिक्रिया नहीं! पलाश विश्वास

ভালোবাসার মুখ,প্রতিবাদের মুখ মন্দাক্রান্তার পাশে আছি,যে মেয়েটি আজও লিখতে পারছেঃ আমাক ধর্ষণ করবে?

Palash Biswas on BAMCEF UNIFICATION!

THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS ON NEPALI SENTIMENT, GORKHALAND, KUMAON AND GARHWAL ETC.and BAMCEF UNIFICATION! Published on Mar 19, 2013 The Himalayan Voice Cambridge, Massachusetts United States of America

BAMCEF UNIFICATION CONFERENCE 7

Published on 10 Mar 2013 ALL INDIA BAMCEF UNIFICATION CONFERENCE HELD AT Dr.B. R. AMBEDKAR BHAVAN,DADAR,MUMBAI ON 2ND AND 3RD MARCH 2013. Mr.PALASH BISWAS (JOURNALIST -KOLKATA) DELIVERING HER SPEECH. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLL-n6MrcoM http://youtu.be/oLL-n6MrcoM

Imminent Massive earthquake in the Himalayas

Palash Biswas on Citizenship Amendment Act

Mr. PALASH BISWAS DELIVERING SPEECH AT BAMCEF PROGRAM AT NAGPUR ON 17 & 18 SEPTEMBER 2003 Sub:- CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT 2003 http://youtu.be/zGDfsLzxTXo

Tweet Please

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS BLASTS INDIANS THAT CLAIM BUDDHA WAS BORN IN INDIA

THE HIMALAYAN TALK: INDIAN GOVERNMENT FOOD SECURITY PROGRAM RISKIER

http://youtu.be/NrcmNEjaN8c The government of India has announced food security program ahead of elections in 2014. We discussed the issue with Palash Biswas in Kolkata today. http://youtu.be/NrcmNEjaN8c Ahead of Elections, India's Cabinet Approves Food Security Program ______________________________________________________ By JIM YARDLEY http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/indias-cabinet-passes-food-security-law/

THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS TALKS AGAINST CASTEIST HEGEMONY IN SOUTH ASIA

THE HIMALAYAN VOICE: PALASH BISWAS DISCUSSES RAM MANDIR

Published on 10 Apr 2013 Palash Biswas spoke to us from Kolkota and shared his views on Visho Hindu Parashid's programme from tomorrow ( April 11, 2013) to build Ram Mandir in disputed Ayodhya. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77cZuBunAGk

THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS LASHES OUT KATHMANDU INT'L 'MULVASI' CONFERENCE

अहिले भर्खर कोलकता भारतमा हामीले पलाश विश्वाससंग काठमाडौँमा आज भै रहेको अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय मूलवासी सम्मेलनको बारेमा कुराकानी गर्यौ । उहाले भन्नु भयो सो सम्मेलन 'नेपालको आदिवासी जनजातिहरुको आन्दोलनलाई कम्जोर बनाउने षडयन्त्र हो।' http://youtu.be/j8GXlmSBbbk

THE HIMALAYAN DISASTER: TRANSNATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT MECHANISM A MUST

We talked with Palash Biswas, an editor for Indian Express in Kolkata today also. He urged that there must a transnational disaster management mechanism to avert such scale disaster in the Himalayas. http://youtu.be/7IzWUpRECJM

THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS CRITICAL OF BAMCEF LEADERSHIP

[Palash Biswas, one of the BAMCEF leaders and editors for Indian Express spoke to us from Kolkata today and criticized BAMCEF leadership in New Delhi, which according to him, is messing up with Nepalese indigenous peoples also. He also flayed MP Jay Narayan Prasad Nishad, who recently offered a Puja in his New Delhi home for Narendra Modi's victory in 2014.]

THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS CRITICIZES GOVT FOR WORLD`S BIGGEST BLACK OUT

THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS CRITICIZES GOVT FOR WORLD`S BIGGEST BLACK OUT

THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALSH BISWAS FLAYS SOUTH ASIAN GOVERNM

Palash Biswas, lashed out those 1% people in the government in New Delhi for failure of delivery and creating hosts of problems everywhere in South Asia. http://youtu.be/lD2_V7CB2Is

THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS LASHES OUT KATHMANDU INT'L 'MULVASI' CONFERENCE

अहिले भर्खर कोलकता भारतमा हामीले पलाश विश्वाससंग काठमाडौँमा आज भै रहेको अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय मूलवासी सम्मेलनको बारेमा कुराकानी गर्यौ । उहाले भन्नु भयो सो सम्मेलन 'नेपालको आदिवासी जनजातिहरुको आन्दोलनलाई कम्जोर बनाउने षडयन्त्र हो।' http://youtu.be/j8GXlmSBbbk