Re: a request.

[Rajvi Mariwala <mariwala@lclark.edu>]

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Please help make the Manifesto better, or accept it, and propagate it!
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Hello,
        In response to your presumption of my alleged
pseudo-intellectualism.. I am not writing some random article.
I am an undergraduate student in a Comparative Nationalism class writing
a
approx 20 page long research paper. I could have pasted my whole 5 page
research paper proposal with my list of 15 sources, but I chose not to
since it would be too cumbersome for people to read and I would have a
problem showing my footnotes on email software. I did not just think
randomly one day about politics and Hindu nationalism, I researched it
to
see if there was an adequate linkage/puzzle.
The reason why I asked for IPI's advice, was infact the very Western
Press
that you mention, and the inadequate picture it generally paints.
Hence, I asked for maybe ideas about resources since I do not have
access
to archived Indian media here.
 As for using terms in the social sciences, luckily, the merits of
ones articles are assessed not only in terms of richness and relevance,
but also in terms of the rigour of their definitions.
Thank you for not jumping to the conclusion that I wasnt a male.
Ms Rajvi Mariwala.

PS - I'm sorry for bringing this up to IPI but I guess I was under the
misguided assumption that investigation of relevant issues was part of
IPI.


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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