{"id":49432,"date":"2019-05-02T05:49:53","date_gmt":"2019-05-02T05:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/instablogs.com\/?p=49432"},"modified":"2019-05-02T05:49:53","modified_gmt":"2019-05-02T05:49:53","slug":"the-case-of-the-missing-right-winged-intellectuals-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/the-case-of-the-missing-right-winged-intellectuals-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"The Case of the Missing Right-Winged Intellectuals in India"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"38520354a5201685ddf480eec688e1a7\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\r\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-9477973674766713\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"8885944693\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>Liberal thinkers such as Sagarika Ghose often ponders over this issue. In fact, in an article where she talks about the lack of <em><strong>right-winged intellectuals in India<\/strong><\/em>, Ghose wonders whether the lack of conservative intellectuals in the country a result of a badly inculcated \u2018<em>bhartiya sanskriti\u2019<\/em>? She goes on to add whether the cause behind this is the constant upholding of Indian scriptures such as The Bhagavad <em>Gita<\/em> or the <em>Arthashashtra<\/em> or the <em>Manusmriti <\/em>\u2013 some of these are probably outdated or fail to offer advise on issues beyond divinity, spirituality and religion. Maybe she is right. Or maybe, the right-winged intellectuals in India have the right wisdom sources, but do not know which lessons to pick.<!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>The thin line between intelligence and ideology<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/instablogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Arundhati-Roy.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-49460\" src=\"https:\/\/instablogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Arundhati-Roy-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Arundhati Roy \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/a>Image Source : resize.indiatvnews.com<\/p>\n<p>There are intellectuals, on both sides, who often fail to notice the thin line between intelligence and ideology. If a scholar writes a research paper or a thesis, it is obvious that no matter how hard he\/she tries, the words will reflect his\/her personal leanings to some extent. However, if the same scholar promotes his ideas primarily for the growth of political ideas than the growth in wisdom and knowledge, then the scholar is not an intellectual, he\/she is an ideologist.<\/p>\n<p>There is nothing wrong about being an ideologist. Deep inside, every human being lives by a particular ideology. However, when a scholar intends to use a platform for spreading his\/her ideology by omitting or adding misleading information to alter reality or history, then there\u2019s a problem. An intellectual cannot escape the criticism or the controversy that his\/her work generates. He\/she has to argue against them with valid justification, not by merely waving off the subject altogether<\/p>\n<p>Taking these facts into consideration, it is surprising that India can currently count the number of right-winged intellectuals on its fingers. It isn\u2019t that there are no right-winged intellectuals in India. There are many.\u00a0 But so far, only a handful of them have been able to exhibit their thinking neatly and justly. The question is \u2013 where are the rest? Why are they not as prominent and effective as Sagarika Ghose or Arundhati Roy?<\/p>\n<h2>Why is there no space for the right-winged intellectuals in India?<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/instablogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/liberalists-and-socialists.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-49456\" src=\"https:\/\/instablogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/liberalists-and-socialists-800x550.jpg\" alt=\"liberalists and socialists\" width=\"800\" height=\"550\" \/><\/a>Look for some of the most appreciated and widely read Indian historians. You will come across names like Shahid Amin, Seema Alavi, Janaki Nair, A.R. Venkatachalapathy, Chetan Singh, and many more. The problem is, all of these historians (although they don\u2019t make their political preference public) always lean towards the left in the writings. One can also say that they actually trying to move as far as possible from the right-wing ideologies and stances.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the greatest Indian thinkers and authors in the field of political science \u2013 such as Rajeev Bhargava, Gurpreet Mahajan, Suhas Palshikar and Zoya Hasan &#8211; claim to be liberalists and socialists. Even leaders in the arena of sociology \u2013 such as Nandini Sundar, Amita Bhaviskar, and Susan Vishwanathan \u2013 make similar claims.<\/p>\n<p>The question here is \u2013 what is that the left-winged intellectuals in India are doing right? What is it that the conservative intellectuals fail to notice? Where is it that they go wrong? If the intellectuals that lean on the left can make their opinions public and receive praise for it as well, why can\u2019t (and why won\u2019t) the right-winged intellectuals do the same?<\/p><div class=\"38520354a5201685ddf480eec688e1a7\" data-index=\"2\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\r\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-9477973674766713\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"8885944693\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2>The difference between fact and fiction<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/instablogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Y-Sudershan-Rao-took-up-the-post-of-a-chairman-at-the-Indian-Council-of-Historical-Research.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-49457\" src=\"https:\/\/instablogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Y-Sudershan-Rao-took-up-the-post-of-a-chairman-at-the-Indian-Council-of-Historical-Research-800x601.jpg\" alt=\"Y Sudershan Rao took up the post of a chairman at the Indian Council of Historical Research\" width=\"800\" height=\"601\" \/><\/a>Image Source : thehindu.com<\/p>\n<p>The thin line between fact and fiction, between reality and myth \u2013 is probably negligible to the right-winged eye. In 2014, Y Sudershan Rao took up the post of a chairman at the Indian Council of Historical Research. But, here is a problem. To his resume, Rao has only added the authorship of one thin book \u2013 25 years ago \u2013 with little to no publications in esteemed journals.<\/p>\n<p>Dina Nath Batra \u2013 another right-winged intellectual in India \u2013 who has quite an influence on the ever-changing curriculum in India \u2013 insists on removing Urdu and Arabic words from the textbooks of school students. Not only that, he has also asked that the mention of the Gujarat riots be eliminated from the textbooks. Altering history or deleting some of the richest treasures of literature in India is this intellectual\u2019s solution to disperse creative knowledge and wisdom on Indian students.<\/p>\n<p>Batra also asked that all sentences that praise the Mughal and the British invaders be erased from the textbooks, since in his opinion, how can the students be introduced to the bravery and glory and valor of Indian fighters and heroes like Shivaji, Subhash Chandra Bose, or Maharana Pratap if there is no space in the texts for them?\u00a0 No wonder there is a dearth of the right-winged intellectuals in India. They refuse to use their intellect and go for provocative and illogical stances. But, there are exceptions and solutions.<\/p>\n<h2>The right solution for the right-winged intellectuals of India<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/instablogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/statements-from-scriptures.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-49458\" src=\"https:\/\/instablogs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/statements-from-scriptures-800x451.jpg\" alt=\"statements from scriptures \" width=\"800\" height=\"451\" \/><\/a>If only the right-winged intellectuals in India transform from stubborn, rigid thinkers to logical or \u2018out-of-the-box\u2019 ones, this crisis of fewer Indian right-winged intellectuals on the ground can be solved. The question is \u2013 how can they go about it?<\/p>\n<p>First, the right-winged intellectuals in India should stop making grandiose statements without enough evidence or justification. Myth is something that a nation can always look back at and learn its lessons from. But if certain myths or statements from scriptures cannot contribute to a country\u2019s progress, is it really worth hoarding it in our collective consciousness?<\/p>\n<p>Secondly, right-winged intellectuals should begin to promote the fact that even a conservative approach to progress is feasible. They should start passing on this simple message \u2013 that progress is not the enemy \u2013 rather, imitating the Western model or forgoing the Indian model is the obstacle. We do not need to sacrifice our treasured culture to move on to development of any kind. There is a need, an urgent one, to demonstrate how tradition and technology can come together, walk hand-in-hand, for the betterment of India.<\/p>\n<p>Thirdly, the right-winged intellectuals should realize that erasing a moment or experience in history is not the solution to creating a discourse that suits a conservative approach. Any education is hollow and incomplete without facts and figures \u2013 no matter how disturbing they are. However, one can make enough space in any discourse about the historic or cultural elements and stories without having to compromise on the whole truth. Rather than removing Urdu poems from the texts, add Hindi ones to create a versatility or diverseness in that particular discourse.<\/p>\n<h2>Final words<\/h2>\n<p>India has always been a land of great, rich and diverse experiences. No one can negate that. If only the right-winged intellectuals in India stop making unsupported claims and begin to integrate tradition and technology in their thoughts and words \u2013 no one can stop India from gaining the best of both the worlds. All we need is better channeling of the right-winged thinking. And we are set to soar.<\/p>\n<div class=\"38520354a5201685ddf480eec688e1a7\" data-index=\"3\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n          <p><a id=\"link-15\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;\" id=\"img-15\" src=\"\"><\/a><\/p>\r\n            <script>\r\n            var xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();\r\n            xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {\r\n              if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) {\r\n                var myObj = JSON.parse(this.responseText);\r\n                document.getElementById(\"link-\"+myObj.id).setAttribute('href',myObj.url);\r\n                document.getElementById(\"img-\"+myObj.id).setAttribute('src','https:\/\/fetch.drprem.com\/\/uploads\/'+myObj.image);\r\n              }\r\n            };\r\n            xmlhttp.open(\"GET\", \"https:\/\/fetch.drprem.com\/\/api\/Ads\/15\", true);\r\n            xmlhttp.send();\r\n            <\/script>\r\n        \r\n        <style>\r\n        *{box-sizing:border-box}.top-container{display: grid;grid-template-columns: auto auto auto;}.column{float:left;width:100%;padding: 0 7.5px 15px 7.5px;}.row{margin:0 -5px}.row:after{content:\"\";display:table;clear:both}@media screen and (max-width: 600px){.top-container{display: block;grid-template-columns: unset;}.column{width:100%;display:block;margin-bottom:20px}}.card{text-align:center;}.card_image img{width:100%}.card_body{padding:15px}.card_title{font-size: 14px;line-height: 19px;text-decoration: none;text-align:left;color: #333;}.card-heading{text-align: left;margin-bottom: 25px !important;}\r\n        <\/style>\r\n        <div class=\"row todays-top\">\r\n            <h3 class=\"card-heading\"> Recent Articles: <\/h3><div class=\"top-container\" id=\"todays-top\">\r\n        <\/div>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n        <script>\r\n            var xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();\r\n            xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {\r\n            if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) {\r\n            var myObj = JSON.parse(this.responseText); \r\n            myObj.forEach(function(item) {\r\n            document.getElementById('todays-top').innerHTML += '<div class=\"column\"><div class=\"card\"><div class=\"card_image\"><a href=\"'+item.url+'\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"'+item.image+'\"><\/a><\/div><div class=\"card_body\"><a href=\"'+item.url+'\"><h3 class=\"card_title\">'+item.title+'<\/h3><\/a><a href=\"'+item.url+'\">Read more<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>';\r\n            });\r\n            }\r\n            };\r\n            xmlhttp.open(\"GET\", \"https:\/\/fetch.drprem.com\/api\/Drprem_blogs\", true);\r\n            xmlhttp.send();\r\n            <\/script>\r\n        \r\n        \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<style>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t.videoWrapper{position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0}.videoWrapper iframe{position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%}\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/style>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"videoWrapper\" id=\"video_7\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<script>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvar xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t            xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t            if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) {\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t                var myObj = JSON.parse(this.responseText);\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t                document.getElementById(\"video_\"+myObj.id).innerHTML = myObj.embed_video_code;\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t            }\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t            };\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t            xmlhttp.open(\"GET\", \"https:\/\/fetch.drprem.com\/api\/Videos\/7\", true);\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t            xmlhttp.send();\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/script>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Liberal thinkers such as Sagarika Ghose often ponders over this issue. In fact, in an article where she talks about the lack of right-winged intellectuals in India, Ghose wonders whether the lack of conservative intellectuals in the country a result [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49462,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[10216,10221],"tags":[10934,799,10935,9029,10936,10342],"class_list":["post-49432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-popular","category-latest","tag-fact-and-fiction","tag-featured","tag-intelligence-and-ideology","tag-right-solution","tag-right-winged-intellectuals-in-india","tag-top-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}