A subversive reading list for self-proclaimed 'liberals'
R Jagannathan Oct 27, 2011
The brouhaha over Delhi University's decision to drop AK Ramanujam's
essay on 300 Ramayanas from the reading list of the history syllabus
shows the level to which our collective fear of the unknown and the
subversive has sunk.
In the case of the Ramanujam essay, since the objectors were
right-wing groups, the left has been happy to treat it as a cause
célèbre, when the fact is even "progressives" have done much to
obliterate "other views" of history that it considers unpalatable.
Histories by right-wing historians, Sir Jadunath Sarkar and RC
Majumdar, have been conveniently left out of reading lists for a while
now.
Fear of "poisoning young minds" is thus common to both the illiberal
right and illiberal left. Both are afraid of what unmonitored readings
will do to the young. They assume that students can't think for
themselves.
Fear of unholy literature is not confined to right-wingers or
left-wingers, or to men or women, or to specific caste-groups or
groups.
A left-sponsored petition is now doing the rounds claiming that "to
delete it (the essay) from the syllabus is an act that is deeply
disturbing, an instance of thought policing. Such a measure will only
encourage sectarian groups to try and prevent intellectuals from
expressing their ideas freely."
As columnist Swapan Dasgupta notes, "because some philistines had
objected to the (Ramanujam) essay being in the list of prescribed
texts, the culture war was transformed into a political war. The
'progressive' adherents of 'scientific history' felt obliged to
celebrate the importance of mythology and the folk tradition — which
they otherwise debunk — while the other side despaired of a text that
injected potentially 'blasphemous' and contrarian ideas in
impressionable minds."
But fear of unholy literature is not confined to right-wingers or
left-wingers, or to men or women, or to specific caste-groups or
groups. Almost everyone has some queasiness about some literature or
the other – whether it is Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, or
Taslima Nasrin's Lajja or BR Ambedkar's Riddles in Hinduism.
To be truly liberal we all have to read the things we most fear –
whether it is an erotic tome (like the Kama Sutra) or an
anti-religious polemical work, or something that makes our heroes look
less heroic (Joseph Lelyveld's Great Soul, on Mahatma Gandhi, or James
Laine's Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India).
Here is Firstpost's initial list of literature that will offend
someone or the other. So we issue it with a warning. Read these books
and essays only if you are a true liberal. In fact, genuine lovers of
academic freedom will know that all these are important texts, even if
one does not agree with what they say.
In the list of books that critique religions or religious groups,
Babasaheb Ambedkar's Riddles in Hinduism and Annihilation of Caste are
classics. They could offend upper caste groups. Also in this polemical
category is Kancha Ilaiah's Why I am not a Hindu.
But Arun Shourie's Worshipping False Gods does the opposite – rock the
boat of Ambedkarites by critiquing Ambedkar himself. At one stage it
provoked Dalits hard enough to attack Shourie.
But what may surprise many people is that Ambedkar also wrote Thoughts
on Pakistan, which may offend Muslims for the critical approach it
brings to Islam. More devastating is Ibn Warraq's critique, Why I am
not a Muslim. Warraq is the pseudonym of a Pakistani apostate, and is
thus guaranteed to offend.
If you want more, Sam Harris' Letter to a Christian Nation will shake
up those who profess Christianity. Koenraad Elst's Psychology of
Prophetism: A secular look at the Bible is also a potential cause for
heartburn.
But if you are just a true believer in whatever religion, Richard
Dawkins' The God Delusion and Christopher Hitchens' God is not Great
are must reads. This is just in case you are willing to see your faith
rocked.
The left should read Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar, and on Mao,
The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression. They will
learn that Stalin and Mao were no less criminals than Hitler.
In the gender wars, Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex and Germaine
Greer's The Female Eunuch are in a class of their own. All men should
read them. But women should also read The Skeptical Feminist, by Janet
Radcliffe Richards. It is a useful antidote in case you don't feel all
that feminist.
This is by no means an exhaustive list for testing the limits to your
liberalism. But it's a place to start.
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