| Revision as of 11:43, 12 April 2014 editDarkness Shines (talk | contribs)31,762 edits Added {{merge to}} tag to article (TW)← Previous edit | Revision as of 15:39, 12 April 2014 edit undoRedtigerxyz (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, File movers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers69,090 edits →top: remove Afd was closed KEEP, not redirectNext edit → | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| {{merge to|Koenraad Elst|discuss=Talk:Koenraad Elst#Proposed merge with Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society|date=April 2014}} | |||
| {{Infobox book | {{Infobox book | ||
| |name = Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society | |name = Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society | ||
Revision as of 15:39, 12 April 2014
| Author | Koenraad Elst |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Voice of Dharma |
| Publication date | 1991 |
| Publication place | India |
| Ayodhya dispute |
|---|
| Organizations |
Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society is a book by Koenraad Elst published in 1991 by Voice of India.
The book is about the Ayodhya debate, but does also discuss Indian politics and communalism. Elst opines that reaching national integration "requires dropping the anti-Hindu separatist doctrines that have largely been created for the purposes of several imperialisms, and are now being kept afloat with a lot of distortive intellectual and propagandistic effort."
The book attempts to examine the polemics between 'communalists' and 'secularists' in India. He also writes about Indian secularism and Communalism, and alleges "that a clear majority of the riots are started by Muslims". In another chapter, the author discusses the banning of books like Ram Swarup's Understanding Islam through Hadis. In the 14th chapter he discusses the concept of "Hindu Fascism".
Other books about the debate by Elst include Ayodhya, The Finale and Ayodhya: The Case Against the Temple.
The Ayodhya debate
Elst believes that "in keeping with the internationally accepted standards of methodology and inference in scientific history-writing, we may conclude ... that the Babri Masjid was built in replacement of a Hindu temple where Ram worship used to take place. In fact, this conclusion is merely a restatement of what was a matter of consensus until a few years ago."
But Elst does not believe in a forcible take-over of ancient temples. According to him, the Hindus should ask for a gesture of good will:
- The Hindu leaders should say to the Muslim leaders : Look, we want these places back. For many centuries they have been our sacred places, and we have suffered the mosques built there only under duress. We do not believe in the forcible take-over of places of worship, we are not Babars and Aurangzebs. But we want from you a gesture of goodwill, a sign that you turn this infamous persecution page of history. We will not take any kind of revenge if you do not feel ready for this gesture, but we will expressly wait until you are ready.
In one chapter, the book describes the press reporting on the debate. Elst alleges that the media was controlled by the anti-Temple side, and that "the foreign press has not added any extra facts or perspective to the reporting on Ayodhya. It has mostly copied the bias of the Indian press."
Reception of his books on Ayodhya
Elst has written several books on the Ayodhya debate. His first was Ram Janmabhoomi vs. Babri Masjid, a Case Study in Hindu-Muslim conflict, while the book of the present article was his second.
Elst's book Ram Janmabhoomi vs. Babri Masjid, a Case Study in Hindu-Muslim conflict (1990) was the first book published by a non-Indian on the Ayodhya debate. His opinion is that "until 1989, there was a complete consensus in all sources (Hindu, Muslim and European) which spoke out on the matter, viz. that the Babri Masjid had been built in forcible replacement of a Hindu temple." He claimed that politically motivated academics have, through their grip on the media, manufactured doubts concerning this coherent and well-attested tradition. Elst alleges that the anti-Temple group in the Ayodhya conflict have committed serious breaches of academic deontology and says that the "overruling of historical evidence with a high-handed use of academic and media power" in the Ayodhya controversy was the immediate reason to involve himself in the debate.
K. Elst sent Goel a manuscript of his first book Ram Janmabhoomi Vs. Babri Masjid: A Case Study in Hindu Muslim Conflict. Goel was impressed with Elst's script: "I could not stop after I started reading it. I took it to Ram Swarup the same evening. He read it during the night and rang me up next morning. Koenraad Elst's book, he said, should be published immediately." In August 1990, L. K. Advani released Koenraad Elst's book about the Ayodhya conflict at a public function presided over by Girilal Jain.
The book was reviewed by professor Ramesh Rao.
Indologist Gerald James Larson called the book a good treatment of the Neo Hindu interpretation of the evidence.
Further reading
- The Ayodhya demolition: an evaluation", in Dasgupta, S., et al.: The Ayodhya Reference, q.v., p. 123-154.
- The Ayodhya debate in Pollet, G., ed.: Indian Epic Values. Râmâyana and Its Impact. Leuven: Peeters. 1995, q.v., p. 21-42. (adapted from a paper of the International Ramayana Conference and the October 1995 Annual South Asia Conference in Madison, Wisconsin)
- The Ayodhya debate: focus on the "no temple" evidence, World Archaeological Congress, 1998
References
- ^ Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society (1991)
- Koenraad Elst. Who is a Hindu? Chapter Nine
- Koenraad Elst. Who is a Hindu? Chapter Eleven
- ^ Sitam Ram Goel, How I became a Hindu. ch.9
- Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society (1991) Footnote 64
- http://www.rameshnrao.com/history-ayodhya-after.html
- India's Agony Over Religion By Gerald James Larson