Students in Indian universities being nudged to do research on Hindutva/Chaddiwalahs

by Guest Sun Feb 19, 2017 8:48 am

More and more MPhil and PhD students are being encouraged by faculty in various universities to explore Hindutva-related subjects. "I tell my postgraduate students that they must look beyond human rights, women's empowerment, Panchayati Raj and Gandhi as these topics have been explored extensively. They must do research on topics which have remained untouched such as Bharatiya Jana Sangh leaders - Deendayal Upadhyaya and Syama Prasad Mookerjee, and the RSS and its social service," says Sanjeev Kumar Sharma, Political Science professor at Meerut's Chaudhary Charan Singh University.

Similarly, in Lucknow University, research is on to establish "historical links" of Lord Shiva with Kashmir, inspired by a fictional work. "The scholar read about it in a recent bestseller and he proposed to write a thesis on it," says a university professor.
Eulogising Modi in research papers is a growing trend too. Scholars in BHU are writing papers on the "Role of Modi in the empowerment of Muslim women," and "Modi and (US President) Trump - a case study of the two personalities vis-a-vis their elections". In Gujarat University, researchers are working on papers such as "Improvement in India-US relations, post Modi", and "Emergence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in national politics, post Modi".

Other state-run higher education institutions such as the Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University in Uttar Pradesh's Faizabad and Maharaja Ganga Singh University in Rajasthan's Bikaner are championing the "Hindu" cause in a big way too. A scholar in the Bikaner university is writing a paper on " Sarsanghchalaks of the RSS (Heads of the RSS)"; another is working on "The cultural outlook of the RSS". At the Faizabad university, grants have been sanctioned to a PhD student to write a paper on "Deendayal Upadhyaya and his Hindutva ideology".
This is not to suggest that all research work in the social sciences in every university revolves around the Hindutva ideology these days. But surely, there is a pattern - young researchers are being nudged towards themes and personalities attached to the notion, and politics, of Hindu nationalism, whose unabashed mascot Prime Minister Modi is.

There is good reason for this to have become a trend. Many academics believe smart researchers are trying to cash in on the Hindutva vogue to secure easy grants. "Research grant funds allotted to universities are poor. Given the current political scenario, receiving grants, either from universities or from the central funding institutions, for Hindutva-related topics would be easier," argues Vijay Kumar Rai, head of the department of Political Science at Allahabad University.

Some senior teachers and scholars also argue that the trend is part of an attempt by faculty members who espouse far-Right Hindutva ideology to gain a strong foothold in upper academia, a project of the Sangh Parivar and the Modi government to take the orientation and outlook of educational institutions, and indeed of learning, under their fold.

An illustration of how opinion is beginning to be skewed, without much to back it: an Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) journal recently stated that the iconic "Dancing Girl" of Mohenjodaro is Goddess Parvati, and therefore proof that people of the Indus Valley civilisation worshipped Shiva.

Over the past two years, many universities, central and state, have been quick to accept doctoral and research proposals on content that would be amenable to the Sangh ideology. So much so, that it has left some academics alarmed. "A young scholar would shape the academic terrain of the country in the coming years. Projects with preconceived conclusions should not be entertained by universities," Rai stresses....

The presence of RSS members in university seminars and workshops is becoming a norm. For instance, many of them attended the Indian Political Science Association's annual conference at BHU in 2015, where research papers on subjects such as the theory of Ram Rajya and the relevance of Manuvaad in the current political scenario were released. Last year, Hindu spiritual guru Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati addressed students of Lucknow University where he claimed that the computer has its origins in the Vedas.

RSS leaders were invited at the DU convocation in November last year. Many witnessed the varsity vice-chancellor, Yogesh Tyagi, touching RSS joint general secretary Krishna Gopal's feet before moving to the dais.

RSS leader Indresh Kumar and a few others have been regularly invited to speak at orientation courses in DU. In all these sessions, RSS leaders tried to indoctrinate teachers by giving lectures on their idea of nationalism. A teacher who attended one says, "One speaker likened atomic particles - electrons, protons and neutrons to Hindu gods - Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar." IIT Delhi has received close to three dozen research proposals on the potential of panchgavya, a concoction of cow dung, urine, milk, ghee and curd.

https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170219/jsp/7days/story_136516.jsp