Re: a request.

[Chandrasekhar Commuri <ccommuri@usc.edu>]

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Please help make the Manifesto better, or accept it, and propagate it!
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Mr Boddupalli's argument seems to suggest that students of the
social studies should censor themselves since they may appear
"pseudo-intellectual" or because their works may fuel an
'eye-for-an-eye' reaction in society (he perhaps gives social
scientific work more power than it deserves).

Researchers often study something starting with an educated
guess, or even a hunch. In an ideal world we will arrive at
conclusions after studying something "objectively". However,
it doesn't always happen this way, even in the so-called
hard sciences like physics.

It is not the work of academics that we need to fear but
the consequences of censorship, however well intended.


Chandrasekhar Commuri
School of Policy, Planning, & Development
University of Southern California



On Tue, 14 Nov 2000, prasad boddupalli wrote:

> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Please help make the Manifesto better, or accept it, and propagate it!
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Ms Mariwala,
>       With due respect to your feelings and convictions, I would like
> to say a few things.
>       One writes articles for a number of reasons; for a living, for
> spreading their ideas, for an essay-writing competition or in an effort to
> appear as an intellectual.
>       To me, your attempt seems to be the last one. Had the motivation for
> your article been your conclusion, after an extensive study, you would not
> have asked for pointers to some literature on that topic.
>       But if you are penning such an article for the sake of writing an
> article, you should remember that you will be only contributing some more
> fodder for the pseudo-intellectuals. Ofcourse, everyone respects your
> freedom of speech. But whatever you speak, should be borne out of your
> convictions. Not by picking up a catchy topic or phrase.
>       The western press addresses BJP is a Hindu Nationalist party. I doubt
> if they know what they write. I believe that atleast we should refrain from
> stringing together such terms as Hindu nationalism, elite manipulation...
> etc. They will only fuel "an-eye-for-an-eye" attitude in our society, and
> will not contribute to an healthy debate.
>
> regards,
> Prasad Boddupalli.
> >Hello,
> >	I am an Indian student studying in the USA - writing a paper
> >on Hindu nationalism. My contention is that I would like to show how >an
> >uprising of Hindu nationalism is possible despite the cleavages in
> >Hinduism. Given that the caste, regional and linguistic factors have >in
> >the past been used divisively - how is the one "Hindu identity" formed out
> >of all these differences - Hinduism has never been a monolith. My argument
> >is elite manipulation.....
> >I was wondering if anyone could suggest any resources/inputs..
> >I am very grateful for any help...
> >thank you,
> >Rajvi Mariwala.
> >


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