The Hindu American Foundation needs the support of every
one of its members at this critical time. The efforts of
Hindus in California to improve 6th grade textbooks so that
these books actually reflect their beliefs and their religious
practices have been hijacked by Michael Witzel, a Professor
of Sanskrit at Harvard University and a few like-minded
colleagues with demonstrable anti-Hindu links. Below, just
some of the acrimonious, cynical and dismissive comments
of Professors Witzel, Wolpert and Heitzman (Witzel, et al)
are seen (For a full viewing of comments made by Witzel,
et al on the specific edits and changes recommended by the
Ad Hoc Committee and CRPE Bajpai, click
here)
We believe these comments
clearly relay the urgency with which Hindus must counter this
insidious Hinduphobia. With your support, we can ensure that
Hinduism is represented in a fair and appropriate manner.
- The Ad Hoc Committee (AHC) and Content
Review Panel Expert (CRPE) Bajpai recommended a correction
stating that the Indian epic Ramayana was written before
the Indian epic, Mahabharata.
- Witzel, et al respond with,
“Who in sixth grade cares which epic was “written”
first?”
- AHC and CRPE Bajpai recommended capitalizing
‘g’ in the words God or Gods to better describe
Hinduism as a tradition that is not polytheistic but instead
one that propounds a theology of panentheistic monotheism,
recognizing that god is immanent in all of creation and
yet transcendent. Also, since the letter “G”
is capitalized when referring to God in Christianity,
the same respect, with use of a capital “G”
should be given to Hindu Divinity.
- Witzel, et al want to retain
the text “Many gods exist …”
- AHC and CRPE Bajpai recommended that
textbooks state that women enjoyed different rights than
men and received some education. There is also little
or no discussion of the concept of shakti or
feminine divinity and the historical existence of brahmacarinis,
sanyasinis and female saints. (Noteworthy: the
textbooks portray the status of women in Islam sympathetically.
They state that even though women had fewer rights than
men, Islam conferred on women several rights that pre-Islamic
Arab society had denied)
- Witzel, et al want to retain
text that said, “Hinduism also taught that women
were inferior to men.” They did not want to mention
the fact that women were saints and composers of the
Vedas, Hinduism’s ancient texts.
- Textbooks, while discussing other
religions, do not present the historic misuses of religion
to perpetuate social evils such as slavery, anti-Semitism
or holy wars, all of which are part of the history of
other world religions. In contrast, social practices like
untouchability and caste discrimination are presented
as central tenets of Hinduism. The textbooks fail to mention
that these are social customs also prevalent in non-Hindu
communities throughout South Asia. They also fail to mention
that many Hindu sacred texts were authored by “lower
castes.”
- Witzel, et al and their supporters
want to stress that caste discrimination is a central
part of Hinduism and do not want to acknowledge the contributions
of ‘untouchables’ to Hinduism.
- AHC and CRPE Bajpai suggested
that Hinduism be portrayed as a natural internal development
of a composite Indian society, which also included the
Aryans. This suggestion reflects an alternative theory
based on the latest archeological, genetic and astronomical
developments.
- Witzel, et al suggest that
no mention of newer theories that conflict with the
Aryan Invasion Theory (which Witzel, et al propound)
be made. They also allege that mentioning that Aryans
were part of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization
was a crude Hindu attempt at creating linkage with
that civilization. (Noteworthy: For the portion on
Islamic history, mention of converts to Islam through
conquest has been eliminated)
- Witzel, et al object to a well-written
explanation of ayurveda and yoga as systems developed
by ancient Indians for spiritual and medical well being.
Dangerously, a coalition
of anti-Hindu academics, Indian Marxist activists, Christian
missionaries representing themselves as Dalits, and others
who are ignorant about California’s educational guidelines
and Hinduism are working to have the SBE overturn the original
recommendations made by the AHC on November 8, 2005 as well
as the latest corrections and edits accepted by the CC on
December 2, 2005.
Significantly, these individuals and groups
want to maintain the textbooks as written, which as demonstrated
above, misrepresent Hindu belief and focus on the "dark
side" of Hinduism. They especially would like to see
Hinduism portrayed as a religion of oppression and a religion
foreign to India. Their main motivation: political, social
and religious agendas: Marxists with their inclination to
consider religion an "opiate of the masses" and
to interpret history in terms of class struggle and Christian
missionaries with their interest in the untouchables for targeted
conversion.
The current textbooks, we believe, violate
SBE guidelines because they do not leave a student with respect
for Hinduism, and in fact adversely reflect on the child’s
creed and ancestry. If anti-Hindu groups are successful, sixth
graders in California public schools, and in following California’s
lead, children in public schools across the U.S., will learn
a warped, outdated version of Hinduism which is not on par
with the portrayal of other religions.
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