thanks for the article imemind.
it's singlemost amazing thing to me, however, that these two bit sons of
*****es can throw sand in hindu machine.
why no other communitiies have these kind of sob pigs hanging around? why
the hindus?
<imemind@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:1145812705.539611.287470@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Witzel takes his Aryan Invasion to Pakistan
> California textbook controversy
> By N.S. Rajaram
>
> A few months ago, California education authorities accepted
> recommendations to make changes to the depiction of Hinduism and India
> in textbooks to be used in the state. Uninvited, Harvard Sanskrit
> Professor Michael Witzel went on a lobbying spree to stop the proposed
> changes. But here is a curious fact: while he seemed to be campaigning
> against what he called 'Hindutva-inspired changes' his real agenda
> was to save his pet Aryan invasion theory from being axed.
>
> Michael Witzel and a small group of his followers, mainly Europeans and
> the usual Indian hangers-on like Romila Thapar, are almost the last
> holdouts for the foreign origin theory of the Vedas and Sanskrit as
> products of the Aryan invasion. Their academic reputation, what is left
> of it, rests on the survival of their Aryan theories.
>
> Though largely ignored by the Indian media, two major developments have
> sounded the death knell of the Aryan invasion theory. These are: (1)
> genetic evidence showing that the Indian population is almost entirely
> indigenous with negligible input from outsiders going back to the last
> Ice Age (more than 10,000 years); and (2) British admission that the
> Aryan invasion theory was concocted to serve imperial interests,
> because, "it gave a historical precedent to justify the role and
> status of the British Raj, who could argue that they were transforming
> India for the better in the same way that the Aryans had done thousands
> of years earlier."
>
> In 1929, the British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin stated in the House
> of Commons: "Now, after ages, ...the two branches of the great Aryan
> ancestry have again been brought together by Providence... By
> establi****ng British rule in India, God said to the British, I have
> brought you and the Indians together after a long separation, ...it is
> your duty to raise them to their own level as quickly as possible
> ...brothers as you are..." Need we say more?
>
> Disgraced at Harvard
> It is obvious that these revelations are devastating to Witzel's
> academic reputation. This goes to explain his desperate lobbying in
> California schools, begging education authorities to keep his Aryan
> theories in the books. He made several trips, spending hours waiting in
> the outer offices of California bureaucrats and arguing with his
> opponents. This is not the kind of undignified behavior that one
> expects from an elderly professor at a prestigious university like
> Harvard.
>
> Even before the California scandal, Witzel's reputation had taken a
> severe beating at Harvard. Recently, he had started an Internet e-group
> called Indo-Eurasian Research that was little more than a hate group
> that repeatedly attacked those who disagreed with him in violent and
> abusive language. This was brought to the notice of Harvard
> authorities.
>
> Ten years ago, Witzel had to step down as chairman of the Sanskrit
> Department because of professional irregularities and personal
> misconduct. He was charged with misusing his position to bring
> unqualified people to Harvard and also threatening one of his students
> (possibly more) with a lawsuit for disagreeing with him.
>
> One of his favorites, Enrica Garzelli, was expelled by Harvard and sued
> the university. His latest favorite is one Steve Farmer who claims that
> DNA research discrediting Witzel's theories is an international
> conspiracy! So far Witzel's troubles had been confined to Harvard.
> Thanks to his political meddling, what was Harvard's embarrassment is
> now an international scandal.
>
> Looking for money in Pakistan
> There also seems to be a mercenary angle to his campaign. Even before
> the California controversy could be resolved, Witzel, along with Romila
> Thapar, Emeritus Professor at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru
> University, announced the formation of The Academic Indology Advisory
> Council, and Indian American Public Education Council.
>
> According to Witzel and Thapar, their goal in forming these is "to
> counteract this threat to the integrity of the material taught to our
> children," to which end their group "will offer its expertise to
> any school boards and publishers who may call on it, as a service to
> the field of Indian Studies." ("Our children" sounds a bit
> strained since neither Thapar nor Witzel is an American, much less
> parents of school-going children in California.)
>
> In other words, it is a consulting outfit that hopes to benefit from
> the unprecedented media coverage that the controversy received. Given
> his record, it is not surprising that Witzel's newfound business
> venture has failed to takeoff. Publishers are avoiding him like the
> plague, having incurred delay and losses due to his meddling in
> California school curriculum. Some are facing lawsuits, as is the
> California State Board of Education, for violating the civil rights of
> Hindu children.
>
> His failure to attract money in America is what seems to have sent
> Witzel to Pakistan looking for business as an anti-Hindu lobbyist. In
> the March 12 issue of the Karachi newspaper Dawn (Internet edition),
> Witzel proudly proclaimed Defeat for Hindutva revisionists, thanks to
> his lobbying efforts in California.
>
> The interesting thing about this advertisement masquerading as an
> article on education is Witzel's identification of himself as
> "Professor of South Asia Studies at Harvard." This conceals his
> real position as Professor of Sanskrit. He no doubt sensed that
> Sanskrit is closely associated with Hindu religion and culture.
> "South Asia Studies" may sell better than Sanskrit in Pakistan.
>
> While it is too early to say what all drove Witzel's plunge into
> California school politics and form his business venture, it is hard to
> take at face value his claim that it was to help school boards and
> publishers maintain integrity in the field of Indian studies. Saving
> his reputation and making some money to cover his growing legal and
> other costs seems a more likely explanation.
>
> All this places Witzel and his colleagues in their true place-not as
> heroic fighters or larger than life demons, but pathetic figures trying
> desperately to save themselves and their discredited discipline from
> collapse.
>


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