Some links- and a controversy

I promised to blog some of the more interesting links I found, but let me begin by mentioning this excellent blog by Amardeep Singh.
I came across it, because he has covered in fair depth, the controversy surrounding Hinduism Studies. (Go to June 22 post for a further update, I can't seem to be able to link to it). Now, I will admit that Hinduism Studies per se is fine, honestly it is. I think there is a problem with left wing secularists in India who think that anyone who believes in God is a potential Modi. No they aren't. And you alienate them by believing thus. I know plenty of my own relatives who are fairly devout but would never ever vote for the BJP or fall for their anti Muslim rhetoric and are appalled by it. So let's not dismiss everyone who believes.

Next, I will admit that I am worried by the way South Asian courses are designed in Western universities. There is an emphasis on 'what is wrong' with India, rather than 'what is right'- and for god's sake, we are country with over 20 distinct languages, 6 major religions and so on, and we've remained relatively united. Give us some credit please.

At the same time, the Hinduism Studies crowd often worries me, because some of them, and I do insist on the word 'some', have links with more dubious organizations. But while there is a lot of misinformation about Hinduism in the West (and what about Islam eh?), I am not sure these guys are tackling it the right way. (No pun intended!!)

Ok, so here are some of the other links I promised:
SACW is obviously the best resource for any South Asian scholar. But it has a special section on the textbook controversy and on history writing in India. There is this other site called Akhbar which has a great set of essays on a wide variety of subjects, including the curricula in Pakistan.

On Pakistani textbooks, here is Rosser's article. But there is also this report, which you can find on the SDPI site- the A.H. Nayyar report on the curricula.

Finally the Feb 2003 issue of Seminar, has an excellent collection of articles on 'ways of representing our shared past'. They are a must read.