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It has been suggested that this article be merged into Koenraad Elst. (Discuss) Proposed since April 2014.

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.

According to Elst, the book was presented to the world by L.K. Advani and Girilal Jain, together with Sita Ram Goel’s Hindu Temples, What Happened to Them, and thereby appeared on the cover of most Indian newspapers.

Koenraad Elsts books on the Ayodhya debate were the first publications by a western scholar on the debate, and remain the most well-known ones on the Hindu side. Very prominent politicians like L.K. Advani have cited extensively from his books on Ayodhya debate, as was reported in Indian newspapers. "The book was presented to the world by L.K. Advani and Girilal Jain, and thereby appeared on the cover of most Indian newspapers."

Peter Heehs in " Myth, History and Theory" calls Elsts books on the Ayodhya debate the "best-known publications" for the Hindu side. Elst also participated/published his Ayodhya research (some of it in his Ayodhya book) in conferences like the World Archaeology Congress, International Ramayana Conference and the South Asia Conference, and journals and book chapters in scholarly books and in an official publication by the Bar Council of India Trust. Others who have reviewed his work on this debate are Paul Teunissen and many more.

Elst's books on the Ayodhya debate have been reviewed by professor R.N. Rao and Koenraad Elst himself has reviewed books on this topic in academic journals and published articles in journals including the Journal of Indian History and Culture about the Ayodhya debate.

The famous author Kushwant Singh also commented on it. Koenraad Elst said that when he met Khushwant Singh, Singh had just written a newspaper column stating that Elst's book on Ayodhya had been written by Sita Ram Goel using a European name as pseudonym to confer an air of outside objectivity on his pro-temple thesis.

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. K. D. Sethna, also known as Amal Kiran, he praised Elst's book on Babri Masjid as "absolutely the last word".

Reflecting on a book review by Ayub Khan, Elst says that he was criticzed because his writings on the Ayodhya debate were quoted by BJP leaders like L.K. Advani. Ayub Khan wrote that "such is his importance in Hindutva circles that L.K. Advani quoted him at length while deposing before the Liberhan Commission investigation the demolition of Babri Masjid."

Prof. Edwin Bryant notes that the third Ayodhya book is one of Elsts notable works. The book is cited in numerous publications, like Thomas Gilly's The Ethics of Terrorism, D. Anands "Hindu nationalism in India", Rebecca Frey's "Fundamentalism", Edwin Bryants "Quest for the origins of Vedic culture", and many more.

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

1. ^ Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society (1991)
2. Koenraad Elst. Who is a Hindu? Chapter Nine
3. Koenraad Elst. Who is a Hindu? Chapter Eleven
4. ^ Sitam Ram Goel, How I became a Hindu. ch.9
5. Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society (1991) Footnote 64
6. http://koenraadelst.blogspot.com/2014/01/what-have-i-done.html
7. http://koenraadelst.blogspot.com/2014/03/no-more-khushwant-singh.html
8. http://www.rameshnrao.com/history-ayodhya-after.html
9. India's Agony Over Religion By Gerald James Larson
10. Mother India: Monthly Review of Culture, Volume 58. page 521
11. K. Elst, The problem with secularism, ISBN 9788185990811, 2007
12. The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History edited by Edwin Francis Bryant, Laurie L. Patton Among twenty published titles, most attention has been drawn by his Update on the Aryan Invasion ..... and Ayodhya, the Case against the Temple.

• K. Elst on Ayodhya Outlook India
• Review

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• Articles to be merged from April 2014
• 1991 books
• Books by Koenraad Elst
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• Ayodhya