B.RAMAN
I have been in receipt of the following letter by E-Mail from Mr.Christophe Jaffrelot, an eminent academic and analyst from France, who analyses from time to time the various aspects of the Hindutva phenomenon in sections of the media. The letter is self-explanatory. I would like to assure him that my reference to him in my article did not mean that I agree with any criticism of him. My article summing up the salient points of the detailed comments received/ seen by me was not the outcome of any pressure on me.Those who know me well would vouch for the fact that I am an intellectually fair and courageous person who never succumbs to any pressure from any quarter---governmental or non-governmental, from any section of the political spectrum, right, left or centre . A large number of Hindutva enthusiasts--- including some personally known to me---- felt hurt and anguished by the defamatory attacks on me as well as by the strong lanugage used by me in my response to those attacks. I felt that fairness demanded that I should carry in my blog a summary of the comments from the Hindutva enthusiasts along with my further observations where needed.--B.Raman 31-1-11
THE TEXT OF THE LETTER FROM MR.JAFFRELOT
I have just read your piece "Reactions to my article on Hindutva in the web world". I have been shocked to see that I was mentioned there among the foreigners who "make an earning out of denigrating the Hindutva enthusiasts". Since you make a point, in each of your written contributions, to be accurate, in addition to the spelling of my name, I would like to correct the substance of your judgement. I earn nothing - financially or otherwise - in doing what my conscience dictates and what the ethical code of my occupation requests. Being from a continent which has experimented the Nazi and Fascit episodes you referred to recently, I try to be in peace with myself and to gather the needed courage for that. I do hope that you will continue to follow the path you had taken in spite of an obviously strong pressure.
Yours sincerely,
Christophe Jaffrelot
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4 comments:
What a pompous letter, so typical of our Left-Secu-Liber Jamat! May be, he does not earn anything directly from his Hindutva-baiting but there certainly are indirect benefits from becoming an "expert" on the subject, certainly helped by intervention in our media / publishing. On fascism, I would rather follow what VS Naipaul said about abuse of this word in Indian context. May be, he can put his expertise on fascism to better use in West Asia, closer to home and no less contributed to mess in that region by "his" continent!
He actually means "You better mind your business, I will mind mine. Else I will fix on you the 'Hindu Nationalist' label and you will be forever prefixed with that. I have my right to criticize the less civilized Indians without looking at the inadequecies of my own continent, because the color of my skin has given me that right."
"I earn nothing - financially or otherwise - in doing what my conscience dictates and what the ethical code of my occupation requests."
>He earns nothing? He feeds his conscience and talks about righteous codes and he says he earns nothing?
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"Being from a continent which has experimented the Nazi and Fascit episodes you referred to recently, I try to be in peace with myself and to gather the needed courage for that."
>The nerve of this guy... Sneaking in words like "nazi" and "facisim". What's next - the fu%king "holocaust"?
Seriously, this guy deserves a noble peace price. A cup. And the fu%king saucer along with it.
What a cheap prick.
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