[Buddha-l] The religious practice of going after someone's job--India/USA

[curt]

This is very sad to hear about. It is a frightening manifestation
of that basic law of physics: "politics make strange bedfellows".
I am personally very sympathetic to the idea that the "secularist"
critique of religion is woefully misapplied in the case of the
indigenous religions of India. But how can one muster any
sympathy for such a blatant attempt to stifle intellectual freedom
as this? When did Hinduism become just another rallying cry for
reactionary bigots?

- Curt

jkirk wrote:

> This suggests to me why I have the impression that Buddhists in India 
> maintain a low profile except when they are having gigantic meetings 
> with the aim of converting dalits, etc.
> Also, I don't know to what extent members of the FWBO in India are 
> actively working for social justice, either--activity that is getting 
> daily more dangerous. But one new twist is that Indian Hindutva 
> organizations are big in the USA, and so they can pursue people to the 
> extent of trying to get them fired from their jobs, as noted in this 
> article (and see following article for a quote from her institution's 
> head). They have learned what kinds of charges go down well with 
> certain US religio-political groups, too--if you get my drift:
>
>> From news article , 
>
> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1156238.cms
>
> ...Last week, in an open letter sent to Chatterji's boss at the 
> California Institute of Integral Studies, endorsed by 469 members of a 
> newly formed group called Citizens Insisting on Integrity in 
> Scholarship (a name formed by using the first letters of the school's 
> name), one person wrote: "Angana Chatterji comes from a long line of 
> pseudo-secularists who have learnt to farm the fear of minority 
> communities for their own personal advancement."
>
> Another called her "a hate-mongering communist," while yet another 
> said: "The California Institute of Integral Studies has been the 
> center of political propaganda in the name of 'anthropological 
> activism' for quite some time."  ...
> -------------
> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/06/23/MNG7ADDAE11.DTL 
>
> ...At the California Institute of Integral Studies, on Mission Street 
> near Civic Center, Joseph Subbiondo, the school's president, called 
> Chatterji "an amazing teacher whose students deeply respect her.''
> He said he was concerned about her security.
> "She could be here in cool San Francisco, but she's over there in hot 
> India really pushing for the people," he said. ........
> Joanna
>
>
>
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