Hinduism and its culture wars

by Vamsee Juluri

Vamsee Juluri’s seminal 2012 review essay from The India Site on the writings of Amartya Sen, Pankaj Mishra, Martha Nussbaum, Wendy Doniger exposed for the first time within the scholarly community the serious flaws in the supposedly liberal-secular position being advanced by these writers. Arguing from within the sensibility of devout liberal Hindus who do not believe in exclusive religious nationalism, Juluri argued that these writers had turned their crusade against Hindutva into an egregiously misplaced existential attack on popular Hinduism. Widely read and commented on by lay readers and academics, this important review essay is essential reading for who anyone who cares for both Hinduism and secularism today.

Genres: Nonfiction, India, Philosophy

23 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 26, 2014

About the author

Vamsee Juluri is a professor of media studies at the University of San Francisco. He is the author of three books, the most recent of which is Rearming Hinduism: Nature, Hinduphobia and the Return of Indian Intelligence (Westland ebooks 2014). He blogs at the Huffington Post and is a regular contributor for the Indian Express.

Reviews

[Vivek Shroff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for every Hindu.
It is eminently readable.
After this, one should go on to Rearming Hinduism by Vamsee Juluri and books by Rajiv Malhotra.
One shudders to think about the machinations of the few in high academia, who are being atlast, soundly thwarted by the likes of Juluri and Malhotra.

[Anantha Narayanan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good essay on topics which an average Hindu may not be aware of...

[Praveen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is in fact an essay. Juluri narrates how the Left intellectual crowd has dominated the Hinduism studies in India, on the one hand; and how non Hindus have dominated the same in the Western academic world.

Now that the Indian - Diasporic and Desi as well - has become assertive he also wants that his culture and Religion should be talked about with respect, as is the case with all other faiths.

The Hindu Right had already started raising its concerns, when this general awakening happened. So, normally, we see the public space being dominated by the 'pop' Hindu right.But their is definitely an urge to give this voice a more rational colour (pun not intended!), and talk about the highly evolved and inclusive Hinduism that it actually is -- without, in any way, being apologetic about it.

This is enough for a small essay. Worth the few paisas and the few minutes that the book demands and deserves.

[Sankalp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This essay is a concise introduction to the broad contours of the cultural battles fought by proponents of Hindu revivalism against aloof academics who readily dismiss the perspectives of devout Hindus, with or without evidence. Recommended read.

[Deepak · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent essay which argues in depth against the hurtful and deliberately short sighted writings of people like Wendy Doniger, Pankaj Mishra etc. The likes of Mishra and Doniger certainly have the right to write about Hinduism in whatever way they see fit; but instead of banning their books and threatening violence which only emboldens their hard-wired attitude, more such erudite rebuttals are the need of the hour.

[Srivatsan V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read

Well thought out and well written. Prof Vamsee Juluri exposes the Hinduphobia of the west, India's elites and pseudos brilliantly

[Sandeepoaks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rarely has some logically put forth what most of people feel


I believe that there is a liberal Hinduism, and that there are many devout, liberal Hindus who recognize the rights of minorities to coexist in India and equally wish to assert their right to fight centuries of colonial and postcolonial racism, marginalization, and mockery of their faith. They are the true ‘alternative’ to the nationalism of the Hindu right, and not the sanctified, subversive notions that have dominated the writings of the secular left.

The above pretty much sums up the irony of our times

[Karthik Srikrishna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Towards the second half of Vamsi Juluri's, he professes that he "believe(s) that there is a liberal Hinduism, and that there are many devout, liberal Hindus who recognize the rights of minorities to coexist in India and equally wish to assert their right to fight centuries of colonial and postcolonial racism, marginalizatioin, and mockery of their faith. They are the true 'alternative' to the nationalism of the Hindu right, and not the sanctified, subversive notions that have dominated the writings of the secular left."
Juluri argues that the secular left sees Hinduism only through the eyes of a Western philosophical mindset while ignoring the intricacies of the Indian mind and its connection to faith, religion and God. As a result, he says that the secular left ends up insulting the faith mentality of the average Indian, who then, turns to the Hindu right for respite and revival. It is a convincing argument and one that I have made in mind to myself several times.
There is a huge need in Hinduism for a point-of-view based on a mythological, theological background of belief, but that is still left of center in the political spectrum.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful essay, which I hope will influence my future reading of the various voices 'out there' on the subject of Hinduism and Indian culture. I was led to it upon reading a journal article about the treatment of Hinduism here in Singapore, as a delimiting religious category with an official acceptable rational face. (Sinha, Vineeta, "'Hinduism' and 'Taoism' in Singapore: Seeing Points of Convergence": Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Volume: 39, Issue: 1, 2008.)

[Konark Shinde · Rating 5 out of 5]

The multiple points the author has raised on how Hiduism is perceieved in the west has really opened my eyes. This text has actually got me thinking and I want to read more about Hinduism.


The multiple points the author has raised on how Hiduism is perceieved in the west has really opened my eyes. This text has actually got me thinking and I want to read more about Hinduism.

[Ashish Iyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant piece of work. Author exposes writings of Amartya Sen, Pankaj Mishra, Martha Nussbaum, Wendy Doniger exposed for the first time within the scholarly community. This so called liberal-secular writers distort everything about Hinduism. They always have their own propaganda. Glad i read it.

[Jayesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very few people come up with honest facts to tell about this major Indian problem.

[Gaurav Prasade · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read.

Quick and easy read. It not only presents views on the culture of South Asia, but also on writings focused on South Asia.

[Samyuktha Ell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is a must read for all Hindus. Masterfully written with a lot of research to back up everything discussed.

[Sumit Mishra · Rating 2 out of 5]

The whole essay seems to be a fight between Wendy Doniger and Diane Eck with making just one point that alternative to Extreme right ideology is not secular left but a more accomodating Hinduism.

[Rohit Kumar]

I am not sure what this is. It's just 23 pages. But something good comes out of it for sure. Next 3 books that i am going to read, came from this one.

[Shamail Aijaz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Full of Venom

Better you should write positive things about Hinduism. There are both, Good and Bad things in the followers of all religions.

[Shalini Menon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Balanced essay.. Retrieve hinduism from hindutva.

[Omar Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

An extended essay, not a book; but worth a quick read. This is a very short discussion of the Hinduism culture wars from a relatively mildly stated, though very much devout, Hindu nationalist perspective. An interesting read, but not anything close to a systematic well researched and original rethinking of the currently dominant (Eurocentric, now leavened with desi postmarxism, so even more Eurocentric) view of India and its culture and history...that grand rewriting of the narrative is still awaited, and it doesn't look like it will happen anytime soon...except maybe if some European of the Charles Beckwith type gets down to correcting the mistakes and prejudices of earlier European writers (and their desi disciples, conscious and unconscious); Hindutvadis and mainstream left-liberal historians are too caught up in contemporary sectarian politics to be able to manage this feat. Until then, we may have to just "read all sides" and make our own best guess..

[Sai Karthik]

Really insightful book

The book is very good but becomes hard to process sometimes for an average reader like me due to long sentences.