> I mean this is utterly condescending and racist.
There is nothing racist about the international community raising concerns about violations of basic democratic rights such as free speech and right of assembly.
> I think anytime anything happens to some minority in the the Great USA, us Indians also need to call our MP and ask them to create noise.
I would support Indians doing this. Please raise concerns with your representatives when you see human rights violations in any part of the world and ask them to speak about it in international forums.
In the past, India has done a commendable job in helping minorities persecuted by the CCP. Many Tibetian Buddhists were given refuge in India, including Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959. Contrary to it's history, India is staying mum on contemporary persecution of religious minorities in neighboring countries such as Rohingyas in Myanmar and Uyghurs in China.
> Basic democratic rights were not hampered, also right of assembly.
False. The government has repeatedly used Section 144 to deny the right to assemble and protest. During Hathras gangrape, not only did the government deny such rights to those who wanted to express solidarity with the victim and victims family by using Section 144. It turned a blind eye when the perpetrators milleu openly violated the section to assemble to show support on behalf of the accused. Why, because those are BJP's (the ruling party's) vote base.
The party IT cell head (Malviya) divulged the identity of the victim of rape although this is against the law. No charges have brought against Malviya or those who assembled in support of the gangrape accused in violation of Section 144.
> India has taken in Rohingya refugees just like Tibetan …
Since we are talking about this government could you point me to stats on Rohingya's given asylum in India. How many has been given asylum ? I presume you were speaking from a position of knowledge. On lack of a response I will update my assumptions about your good faith.
The reason for this anger is the fear of losing control of the narrative. By keeping the Sanskrit scriptures arcane, they can build their own narratives around it. But when scholars start studying those text, the cat will be out of the bag.
They may feel that it is harmful to the Hindutva interests when scholars write about the procedure for cow sacrifice mentioned in Yajur Veda or the racism and misogyny perpetuated by Manu Smriti or the Soma drinking revelry in Rigveda.
These efforts to stop others knowing these scriptures are happening since pre-historic times and even codified in Hindu Law.
Dharmasutra says "If he (Sudra) listens in on a vedic recitation, his ears shall be filled with molten tin or lac; if he repeats it, his tongue should be cut off; if he commits it to memory, his body should be split."[1]
Dharmasutra, written circa 600 BCE, is a book on Hindu Law and Sudra is the lowest class in the Varna system.
The ban on Wendy Doniger's book in India is a case in point.
Scholars studying Hindu texts is not offensive to Hindus. What is though, is the racist perversion that some of them like Doniger make.
Doniger's book is not "banned". It was withdrawn by the publisher - because it was offensive. Details in same wiki link.
Another such "scholar" wrote extremely offensive passage on Lord Ganesha and got away with it.[1]
Hindus have tolerated abuse for so long and they continue to do so. Try letting cats out of the bag on Abrahmic religions.
Doniger and the publisher were taken to court like any civil society would. Publisher chose to drop the book instead of facing legal consequences.
By the way, another publisher did publish the same book in India. Any neutral sources for the so called "violent threats"?
One of her book titles literally is "Eroticism in the Mythology of Siva" [1] And yet, there were no riots or burning down the publisher or the cancel culture that Hindu-phobes routinely engage in.
> you have gone with "sound bites" highlighting the negatives without any context thus distorting the whole discourse.
Please provide some context around the following texts from Dharmasutra.
1) Criminal and Civil Law: "If he (Sudra) has sex with an Arya woman, his penis should be cut off and all his property should be confiscated." (Verse 12.1)
2) Contact with Impure Persons: "When a man touches an outcaste, a Candala, a woman who has just given birth or is menstruating, a corpse, or someone who has touched any of these, he becomes purified by bathing with his clothes on." (Verse 15.5)
Note: Candala is a low caste Hindu.
3) Pollution and Remedies: "An ancestral offering is ruined if it is seen by a dog, a Candala, or an outcaste." (Verse 15.24)
4) Unfit Food: "The following are unfit to be eaten: food into which hair or an insect has fallen; what has been touched by a menstruating woman, ..." (Verse 17.9)
Source: The Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Ancient India, Oxford University Press, 1999
Nope, just when I have no desire to engage with someone who believes there's a conspiracy to defame and destroy Hinduism. In my experience 'Hindu pride' is like 'white pride' in that there are little to no instances where it is not directly linked to supremacism.
The above exact post was written by user "deepglacier" and then deleted. Account for user "bluetreeroot" was created 5 hours ago and posts the same.
What sort of a pathetic simpleton are you?
Clearly you are ignorant of the subject matter and are merely trying to get a rise out of people by selectively quoting from selected texts. Have you even understood what i posted? Stop this nonsense and go study some books on the subject matter starting with the same book that you quote from which incidentally is a translation by the same Prof. Patrick Olivelle that i mention above.
There is nothing racist about the international community raising concerns about violations of basic democratic rights such as free speech and right of assembly.
> I think anytime anything happens to some minority in the the Great USA, us Indians also need to call our MP and ask them to create noise.
I would support Indians doing this. Please raise concerns with your representatives when you see human rights violations in any part of the world and ask them to speak about it in international forums. In the past, India has done a commendable job in helping minorities persecuted by the CCP. Many Tibetian Buddhists were given refuge in India, including Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959. Contrary to it's history, India is staying mum on contemporary persecution of religious minorities in neighboring countries such as Rohingyas in Myanmar and Uyghurs in China.