Refutation of article : Dinanath Batra’s bunkum books have no place in India

Shravan Krushnapaksha 13, Kaliyug Varsha 5116

Ahead is the article by Kiran Nagarkar, the author of the Hindustan Times, criticizing Dinanath Batra Dinanath Batra and Amitabh Sharma's comments refuting it. (in Red).

Dina Nath Batra has many victories to his name. He got Penguin to pulp Wendy
Doniger’s The Hindus: An Alternative History and got Aleph to drop her volume, On Hinduism.

India has had its share of man-made calamities since we won Independence. The Partition, the Chinese invasion, the repeated terrorist attacks on Mumbai and Delhi, to mention only a few. But none of these posed the danger that we face now. It is from the enemy within, that too from a force that claims to be super-patriotic.

The prime calamity in India has been self grown dissidents amongst who it is in fashion to denigrate anything and everything that is vedic or Hindu. Who needs enemies when there are friends like unapologetic Hindu bashers. This community of people including prolific writers and so called impression makers feel their thoughts are THE right ones like a one way street.  Indeed blasphemous.- Amitabh Sharma

I am referring to the 85-year-old Dina Nath Batra, the former principal of a school and the founder of the Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti who sees himself as the saviour of Hinduism and Hindu culture. This zealous warrior has many victories to his name. He got Penguin to pulp Wendy Doniger’s 'The Hindus: An Alternative History' and got Aleph to drop her volume, On Hinduism. His threats made Orient Black Swan undertake ‘a comprehensive assessment’ of Megha Kumar’s book, Communalism and Sexual Violence: Ahmedabad since 1969 (actually it was a reassessment after the book was out).

Now he has won his greatest victory so far. The Gujarat School Textbook Board has approved nine of Dina Nath Batra’s books for schoolchildren. We have now decided to wilfully enter the dark ages. Indeed we seem to have declared a black-out on light itself, on the incandescence of verifiable knowledge, history, geography and science, scientific speculation and technology. What in these nine books does the author find ‘wilfuly backtracking’, albeit regressive. One would like to know what is the hue and cry about. Simply roaring burning coal does not generate heat unless substantiated. What verifiable knowledge does KN find negated and which portions of the book do not stand by the test of – Amitabh Sharma

Our great saints like Kabir, Lalla, Basawanna, Dnyneshwar and so many others from as early as Vedic times have warned us against ignorance and superstition as the deadliest enemies of mankind. What we have today are false messiahs who in the name of venerating our ancient texts, do grave injustice to our past; to its exuberant openness and to the extraordinary powers of observation, analysis and insights that flowered in the great philosophical texts and commentaries like the Upanishads, the Panini grammar, the Kamasutra, the medical texts, the wonderful Sanskrit imagination and literary works. But how can we air-brush the fact that we also have a parallel history of discrimination, black magic, bigots, babas, gurus and charlatans, and that we invented the caste system, which still continues to be the bane of our country. Just because Dina Nath Batra is a man from small means, what he writes doe not augur well with the defeated moralists who hitherto would with aplomb and at will desecrate the very womb that gave them birth. Ignorance is no longer bliss is what they must learn and realize that the era of ‘small’ people like tea vendors and nationalists has arrived. So look for cover or else be ready to perish. Your false propaganda times are done. You will be exposed and whatever injustice you have inflicted you will have to pay for it all. Stop for your mess will no longer be tolerated. In the name of openness, candor and freedom, you have long abused the very fabric that protected you. Suffering with abject lack of knowledge, you dare to take umbrage talking of discrimination and caste system when the history that you so gleefully are unaware of amply would destroy your premise.  – Amitabh Sharma

Batra’s take on Indian science, history and culture are familiar: The proof that the very first aeroplane was flown in India is in the epic, Ramayana where Ram’s plane was called Pushpakviman; western science appropriated the technological scientific discoveries and inventions made by Indian ascetics thousands of years ago; the epic Mahabharata was the first to understand stem cell research; taking care of cows eliminates infertility; the map of Bharat should be redrawn to include Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Tibet, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, among other assertions. What is wrong with Kiran Nagarkar and the likes. They just believe in criticizing rather than proving evidence of what is untrue. Come on be intrepid dig out and provide contradiction which stands to reason. And if not, then shut up. Or would you rather go into shastrarth or debate and fear to loose…presumably not for that is not your spirit. – Amitabh Sharma 

Fortunately many Indian historians, thinkers and scientists have condemned this hokum. But one of the most troubling facts about this is that not only are all the books lauded by the then Gujarat chief minister and current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but there is a deliberate silence on the part of BJP elders like LK Advani and Jaswant Singh, and new converts like MJ Akbar. What has happened to Arun Shourie who was so brave and articulate in the Emergency days? Condemnation means nothing in this internet age. There is no dearth of ignorant or lesser-beings whose time is up. Their opinions mean little nothing. When a seemingly un-invincible Wendy Doniger wielded her wicked prowess, the entire sane world rallied around Dina Nath Batra and Goliath was won over by God’s man Dina Nath Batra. MJ Akbar is the enlightened one and so is Shourie. Do you see the logic of light. Stop or be prepared to get outclassed.  – Amitabh Sharma    

That is indeed a matter of grave concern. There are already signs of various forms of censorship at work. Exclusion is nothing but an extension of censorship and conversely appointing someone only because she or he belongs to your party is little less than nepotism. Not even two months in power and we find the Centre turning down the collegium’s nomination of a highly respected lawyer like Gopal Subramanian as a Supreme Court judge. What the current government wants, it appears, is an echo chamber in both Parliament and the judiciary. What is of greater concern is ill pickings of naïve and half baked academicians who are getting bashed for propagating their untruths. We saw what inclusiveness can do in India. It tore up the national pride and it is time someone like Dina Nath Batra worked tirelessly to restore national esteem. You stay out of it or be ready to get devoured. The Indian populace have an overwhelming verdict in favor of Modi, his able appointees and the nationalistic idiosyncrasy. If you have a problem with it cry hoarse into a well. – Amitabh Sharma   

If there is one thing that still holds true in India including Gujarat, it is our belief in education as a universal good and of course the route to a good job as well as an improver of the quality of life. Sadly, the Batra doctrine subverts the Modi government’s own mantra of ‘development’. The first prerequisite of any kind of education, whether it’s economics, IT, history or science and technology, is truth and integrity. The problems facing the country are humungous. Four examples will suffice: Malnutrition among the children of the poor that the UN says amounts to genocide; TB is at its peak; we also want to create lakhs of jobs; we need a new and even more productive green revolution if we are to feed one and a quarter billion people. Development embraces inculcating Indianness and building national spirit. This would obviously happen with appropriate educational means including spreading the truth and integrity and discounting what has been erroneously traded until now as sacrosanct leading to destruction and almost demise of the Indian amongst our people. Dina Nath Batra’s writings do nothing but elicit the Indian in everyone that carefully reads rather than one who for the sake of degrading shouts insinuations. Why doesn’t Kiran Nagarkar refute each of the four examples ‘intelligently’? – Amitabh Sharma
    
You can’t breed the best scientists or economists if they are brought up on a diet of lies and falsehoods, and expect them to contribute innovative solutions. How does false history affect science? If you don’t know the history of science and the preceding work on a subject, you will not know where to start. But there is an even more urgent matter. This government’s idea of development has two premises. Their role model is the unfettered free market economy and any form of dissent, like Greenpeace or the anti-nuclear movement, has to be scotched. George W Bush would be happy to learn that we too follow in his steps: ‘Either you are with us or you are against us’. Secondly, right now we are hell-bent on ignoring the gravest problem facing the entire human race: Climate change, but our only hope is to wake up to it at the earliest and act on it forcefully.

We have seen what class of corrupt Indians past six decades of truth have mobilized. Would Kiran Nagarkar pride on such phony scientists or economists? India needs nationalists who can steer India to the scientific and economic zenith within our framework. False history thus far is responsible for total westernization of our thinking and making our vedic impact disappear into oblivion. Genetically modified or nuclear missions on which India has embarked is anti national and must be shelved.  Dina Nath Batra is resuscitating what is Indian, so more power and kudos to him. He has more support and endorsement than Kiran Nagarkar can even dream to muster. – Amitabh Sharma
 
India needs not mere innovation but truly inventive solutions like far more efficient and economical ways of creating and utilising alternative energy sources. Rigour is of primary importance. Fraudulent solutions like carbon trading and mouthing platitudes, and following the Batra model will only make sure that huge chunks of the subcontinent will go under water and others will suffer from appalling droughts. No point depending on the developed countries.

Are we up to it? Not, if we rear generations on the Batra hokum.

Following the Batra model would see us build a stronger India and self reliant India a truly independent India, a genuinely free India, one that Kiran Nagarkar and the ilk cannot dream of building. We are up to it and committed to the Dina Nath Batra model, question is Kiran Nagarkar are you with us and choose to be left behind. Regardless India will achieve lost glory the Dina Nath Batra way with or without you. Adios. – Amitabh Sharma

Kiran Nagarkar is the author of Ravan and Eddie and Cuckold.

Original article source : Hindustan Times