{"id":22971,"date":"2016-10-24T11:02:41","date_gmt":"2016-10-24T05:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalpress.hinduismnow.org?p=22968&preview_id=22968"},"modified":"2016-10-24T11:02:41","modified_gmt":"2016-10-24T05:32:41","slug":"a-limited-response-to-jnu-professor-nivedita-menons-statement-hindu-society-must-be-one-of-the-most-violentsociety-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/?p=22971","title":{"rendered":"A Limited Response to JNU Professor Nivedita Menon\u2019s Statement \u201cHindu society must be one of the most violent\u2026society in the world.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

In the article \u201cJNU Students Abuse Lady Professor For Proposing Hindu Courses, Burn PM\u2019s Effigy as Ravana<\/a>\u201d dated Oct 19,\u00a0one statement piqued\u00a0me enough to document some of the more objective\u00a0portions of my mental responses to it.<\/p>\n

The statement within double quotes in the title is an excerpt from this\u00a0video<\/a>\u00a0in which Nivedita Menon can be heard saying it.\u00a0She goes on to say that \u2018surely, nothing in the world can compare to the deep-rooted violence and\u2026intransigence\u00a0of the caste system\u2019 and that this\u00a0\u2018is something we can proudly claim India has contributed to world culture.\u2019<\/p>\n

Varna,\u00a0as found in Srimad Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 4, verse 13), which is\u00a0not meant to be based on birth but determined by an individual\u2019s \u201cGuna\u201d and \u201cKarma\u201d<\/strong> (for a detailed\u00a0explanation of\u00a0Varna in Srimad Bhagavad Gita, listen to\u00a0Swami Chinmayananda here<\/a>,\u00a0or for a shorter read, see\u00a0statement attributed to Swami Tejomayananda here<\/a>; for \u00a0Varna in Vedas, read\u00a0Swami Venkataraman\u2019s Caste Hierarchy And Discrimination Not Sanctioned By The Vedas<\/a>), is hardly what Menon\u00a0has referred to as\u00a0Caste system \u2013 a system,\u00a0systematised<\/a> really by colonisers and plunderers of the then Bharat<\/strong> (see Insight #3 here<\/a>,\u00a0based on GDP trend-data during the period when\u00a0those colonialists\u00a0were at helm),\u00a0who are also referred to\u00a0sometimes by the name of the language Menon\u00a0is heard speaking in that video. That Varna has been misinterpreted and misused by people from its own tradition is true, just as it is true that there are\u00a0people from the\u00a0same tradition who\u00a0have not misused it.<\/p>\n

To vilify the caste system is one thing (and the human suffering and human rights violation that has resulted from it\u00a0has the author\u2019s condemnation too), but to brand\u00a0Hindu society \u2018as one of the most violent\u2019 on that basis alone is preposterous, offensive, violence-inducing and hardly objective; and to include\u00a0caste system in \u2018India\u2019s\u00a0contribution to world culture\u2019 \u2013 I repeat,\u00a0India\u2019s<\/em> contribution<\/a>* (even if meant sarcastically) \u2013 made \u00a0me\u00a0wonder:<\/p>\n

Who really is this lady,\u00a0Nivedita Menon<\/a>?<\/p>\n

What drives her, to live in India<\/em>, to teach Indian<\/em> students, in an Indian\u00a0<\/em>university, on a\u00a0payroll funded by Indians<\/em>\u00a0(tax money), and still make such statements about India\u2019s<\/em> contribution to world culture and about Hindu society, a (still) not insignificant part of world\u00a0(In my mind, the words \u2018India\u2019 (of today) and \u2018Hindu\u2019 cannot be used interchangeably without being incorrect and insensitive, yet she seems to be doing so, atleast in that video and it perhaps was in all probability, a slip.)<\/p>\n

Since she appears to have\u00a0taken it on herself to brand Hindus \u2018as one of the most violent\u2019, I request her, or any objective human mind, Hindu or otherwise, to reconcile her statement, atleast the \u2018one of the most\u2019 part, with the following data from \u2018The Great Big Book of Horrible Things \u2013 The Definitive Chronicle of History\u2019s 100 Worst Atrocities<\/em>\u00a0(2012)\u2019 by Matthew White (who is neither Indian not Hindu). The book has a dedicated website \u2013 http:\/\/www.bookofhorriblethings.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

According to Matthew White\u00a0(on page 554):<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u2018ONE HUNDRED DEADLIEST MULTICIDES\u2019 got \u2018455 million killed overall\u2019.<\/li>\n
  2. Of that 445 million, \u2018IDEOLOGICAL MULTICIDES\u2019 (32 in total: ref. p. 549) accounted for 142 million<\/li>\n
  3. This is further broken down as \u2018RELIGION: 47 million\u2019 (13 of the 32 above), \u2018COMMUNISM: 67 million\u2019 (6 of 32) and \u2018RED-WHITE CIVIL WARS: 26 million\u2019 (6 of 32).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In the chapter titled RELIGIOUS KILLING (p. 107-112), on page 111, under the heading \u2018In God We Trust\u2019, is included:<\/p>\n

    \n

    If we categorise the entries in this list according to which religions came into conflict, we get this simplified breakdown:<\/p>\n

    Christian vs. Christian: 9<\/p>\n

    Muslim vs. Christian: 3<\/p>\n

    Christian vs. Jewish: 3<\/p>\n

    Eastern vs. Christian: 3<\/p>\n

    Jewish vs. pagan: 2<\/p>\n

    Muslim vs. Chinese: 2<\/p>\n

    Muslim vs. Muslim: 2<\/p>\n

    Human sacrifice in India: 1<\/p>\n

    Human sacrifice in Mexico: 1<\/p>\n

    Ritual killing in Rome: 1<\/p>\n

    Muslim vs. Hindu: 1<\/p>\n

    Manichaean vs. Taoist: 1<\/p>\n

    \u2026<\/p>\n

    Then, Judaism and its offshoots, Christianity and Islam, devised a worldview where a single all-powerful god required a strict, uncompromising beliefs rather than tangible offerings.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    Does Nivedita Menon\u00a0have anything to say about Abrahamic religions and of Communism, based on the data included above? Where is her \u2018one of the most violent\u2019 societies in the list above and can she objectively justify\u00a0the usage of \u2018one of the most violent\u2019?<\/p>\n

    On p. 529, where White ranks the 100 deadliest multicides, one finds the following:<\/p>\n

    \n

    1. Second world war (1939 \u2013 45): 66,000,000<\/p>\n

    2. Mao Zedong (1949 \u2013 76): 40,000,000<\/p>\n

    4. Famines in British India (18th \u2013 20th centuries) \u2013 27,000,000<\/p>\n

    11. Conquest of the Americas (after 1942) \u2013 15,000,000<\/p>\n

    23. Aurangzeb (1658 \u2013 1707) \u2013 4,600,000<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    The above five data-points total to 152.6 million deaths. Should Indians and Hindus start looking for nationality \u00a0and religion (respectively)\u00a0in this figure, Nivedita Menon? Can you objectively reconcile the result of such an\u00a0enquiry with your statement?<\/p>\n

    * The hyperlink \u00a0to \u2018Lecture-12- Highlights of Science in Ancient India \u2013 Part 1-IIT Kanpur\u2019 by\u00a0Michel Danino is, of course, a limited articulation of one aspect of\u00a0Ancient India. Read Shri Aurobindo\u2019s \u201cA Defence of Indian Culture<\/a>\u201d for more. \u00a0Read Rajiv Malhotra\u2019s Indra\u2019s Net<\/a>\u00a0for a contemporary articulation of Hindu\u00a0Dharma\u2019s \u2018multi-dimensional, holographic understanding of reality.\u2019<\/p>\n

    (This post\u00a0first appeared at \u2013\u00a0https:\/\/meghk.wordpress.com\/2016\/10\/20\/a-limited-response-to-jnu-professor-nivedita-menons-statement-hindu-society-must-be-one-of-the-most-violent-society-in-the-world\/<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In the article \u201cJNU Students Abuse Lady Professor For Proposing Hindu Courses, Burn PM\u2019s Effigy as Ravana\u201d dated Oct 19,\u00a0one statement piqued\u00a0me enough to document some of the more objective\u00a0portions of my mental responses to it. The statement within double quotes in the title is an excerpt from this\u00a0video\u00a0in which Nivedita Menon can be heard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[1952],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22971"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22971\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}