Author: Navratna S. Rajaram
Publication: Bhartiya Pragna
Date: February 2002
Introduction: The founder of voice
of India, an 'intellectual' Kshatriya' par excellence, completes 80 years
In December 2001, Sri Sita Ram Goel,
scholar, writer, publisher, and creator and mentor of a vigorous school
of thought rooted in Sanatana Dharma, completed 80 years. It is not easy
to describe this many-sided man, but the phrase 'intellectual kshatriya'
first used to my knowledge by David Frawley appears most appropriate. How
are we to describe an intellectual kshatriya? Fortunately Sri Aurobindo
has already done it for us:
"[Such a person] should be absolutely
unsparing in our attack on whatever obstructs the growth of the nation,
and never be afraid to call a spade a spade. Excessive good nature will
never do ... in serious politics. Respect of persons must always give way
to truth and conscience... What India needs especially at this moment is
aggressive virtues, the spirit of soaring idealism, bold creation, fearless
resistance, courageous attack; of the passive tamasic inertia we already
have too much."
I know no one who exemplifies
these qualities better than Sri Sita Ram Goel.
My acquaintance with Sri Goel goes
back to 1993. Remarkably enough it came about through Leftist circles,
when the well-known feminist sociologist Smt Devaki Jain passed on to him
a transcript of my lecture on the Aryan invasion theory. (Smt. Jain is
the daughter of the late M.A. Srinivasan who was a close family friend
of ours.) Sri Goel then contacted me, asking if he could publish it as
a Voice of India booklet. I agreed and sent him another transcript-of a
lecture given at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Chennai. He published these
as a small book, Aryan Invasion of India: The Myth and the Truth. He soon
published two more of my books on the same theme-The Politics of History
and Vedic Aryans and the Origins of Civilization, the latter with David
Frawley now in its third edition. This was followed by the publication
of my books on Christianity and Islam, most recently Profiles in Deception:
Ayodhya and the Dead Sea Scrolls, which happens to the first study of the
Dead Sea Scrolls by anyone outside the Judeo-Christian tradition publisher
in India. (My earlier book on the Dead Sea Scrolls had appeared in England.)
I mention these facts only to point
out that Sri Goel has been as important a pioneering publisher as a scholar
and writer. In fact I regard him as the foremost serious publisher in India
whose work has led to the creation of the most important school of thought
in the Indian humanities today, the Hindutva School in all its diversity
in this regard, his publishing house Voice of India has been more like
a research center and think tank than a commercial house. While the Marxists
and the anti-Hindu 'secularists' are running for cover, desperately clinging
to what is left of their perks and positions (their influence is all but
gone), many of the positions advocated by Sri Goel are moving into the
mainstream. He was twenty years ahead of his time.
Though the English language media
continues to shun his name, his influence is proving to be significant
and growing. Discussion of Jihad is now all the rage, often found on the
front pages of newspapers, but no one mentions two important books published
by Voice of India- Suhas Majumdar's Jihad. The Islamic Doctrine of Permanent
War and Goel's own The Calcutta Koran Petition. The latter is probably
the best introduction available on the theory and practice of Islam, compiled
by drawing upon both Islamic scripture and history. It is the same story
when it comes to ancient history. The Aryan invasion theory is now on its
last legs, its only support coming from Christian missionaries and Communists-now
practically one and the sameyet Voice of India and Aditya Prakashan (also
founded by Sri Goel) have published more scholarly works refuting the Aryan
invasion and providing alternatives than all other publishers in the world
put together. And this is only a sample.
While the media is beginning to
recognize the contribution of several Voice of India authors like David
Frawley, Koelraad Elst, Shrikant Talageri and this writer, it continues
its policy of ignoring Sri Goel. Recently, a national weekly did a feature
on Koenraad Elst as a ma or voice on Hindutva but said not a word about
Sri Goel and his publications, without which Elst (and a few others) might
have remained in obscurity. It is time that the media, the English language
media in particular, dropped its petty prejudices and recognized Sri Goel
as a major voice and a national asset. The Government should also recognize
him with a suitable national award.
As a writer, Sri Goel is best known
for his incisive and uncompromising analysis of Islam as a political ideology
and its impact on Indian history. His range of knowledge, however, is much
wider. For example, in 1996 when I acquainted him with the work I was doing
with Natwar Jha on the decipherment of the Indus script, he immediately
grasped its significance. He went on to point out that like the Indus script,
Gurumukhi was also written without vowels. This led Jha and me to explore
the origins of northwestern scripts, particularly Landa and Morea, which
were once in use in areas where the Indus script was widely distributed.
I can only contrast this with the illiterate but pretentious response of
some 'eminent' academics in India and abroad.
This brings up another facet of
Sri Goel's character: though obviously aware of his own worth, he freely
acknowledges the contribution of others. He has worked closely with the
late Ram Swarup, and the following statement made at a lecture bears eloquent
testimony to Sri Goel's generosity and modesty:
"...It would have been in the fitness
of things if the speaker today had been Ram Swarup, because whatever I
have written and whatever I have to say today really comes from him. He
gives me the seed ideas which sprout into my articles ... He gives me the
framework of my thought. Only the language is mine. The language also would
have been much better if it was his own. My language becomes sharp at times;
it annoys people. He has a way of saying things in a firm but polite manner,
which discipline I have never been able to acquire."
Many would disagree with this self-assessment-that
insights came from Ram Swarup while he did little more than give them shape.
My experience is that Sri Goel has many insights to contribute. I already
gave an example relating to the Indus script. The second part of his statement
with regard to his language comes from the experience of some who accuse
him of being abrasive. But in the overall scheme of things, in the light
of his magnificent contribution, it is at the most a minor irritant. I
sometimes feel that he has made his task of gaining support for his views
unnecessarily difficult because of his way of expressing dissent, and some
people's excessive sensitivity to it. Happily, there are now winds of change
and the ideas he propounded and propagated are proving their worth. It
is time that the people of India, the media in particular, gave him his
due.
I owe him personal gratitude not
only because he published my books, but even more, for being the medium
for some memorable friendships, especially of the late Ram Swarup. I still
remember with warm feeling the one small favor that I did for Ram Swarup
shortly before his death, of translating a few articles in French at his
request.
Sri Goel is a prolific writer. It
is not easy to pick one or two works as his most significant.
Nonetheless I would recommend The
Calcutta Koran Petition and his monumental two-volume compilation, Hindu
Temples: What Happened to Them. Written in finely chiseled English with
scrupulous attention to facts and sources, they are indispensable to every
serious student of India. (His Hindi is no less distinguished.) A collection
of his writings should be compiled and prescribed as a text for all students
of history. The Government also should recognize his contribution by a
suitable award and instituting scholarships in his name.
Let us join the nation in saluting
this heroic figure as he completes eighty years.
