Author: Francois Gautier
Publication: The Organiser
Date: November 19, 2000
FRANCOIS Gautier, French journalist
and photographer is the political correspondent, in India and South Asia
for, Le Figaro the largest circulated French newspaper. He is married
to an Indian and has lived in India for the past 30 years, which has helped
him to "see through the usual cliches and prejudices on India", to which
he himself subscribed for a long time as most foreign (and sometimes Unfortunately,
Indian) journalists, writers and historians do. Author of The wonder
that is India, Re-writing Indian history and Arise O India, Francois writes
the popular Ferengi's column in the New Indian Express. He shuttles
between Delhi and the international city of Auroville, near Pondicherry.
founded by the Mother of Sri Aurobindo's Ashram. His books attempts
not only to show that India was great in all respects spiritually, socially,
culturally and even politically-but also that this greatness is still there
even today, waiting to be manifested waiting for India to awaken to her
true destiny. Excerpts of an interview with Pradeep Krishnan of Organiser
at his residence in Auroville :
Q. Many indological studies,
like the much acclaimed, The Wonder That Was India by A.L. Bamhas
project the wonders of a bygone India. In what way your book The
Wonder That Is India different?
A. Basham has a very limited
and biased admiration for India, which was mostly based on outdated historical
and archaeological data and input of people such as Max Muller, who himself
was very partial.
Q. In your book The Rewriting
of Indian History you say that in the developing world, including India,
things and events are looked through a prism that has been fashioned by
western thinking. How can we alter this myopic vision?
A. It is already changing.
through the internet revolution Where India is one of the leading lights.
But as usual it is the US which is at the vanguard, Europe is lagging behind
and still thinks of India as a backward country.
Q. In course of time, it seems,
we lost the craving for excellence. How India lost its unique way
of living and what can be done to rejuvenate India, spiritually, socially,
culturally and politically?
A. Buddhism was in a great
way responsible for India's withdrawing from an active genius and not resisting
invasions because of its rigid emphasis on maya and nonviolence.
The rejuvenation is already happening, triggered by Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo.
Q. You have criticized the
'negationism' prevalent in Indian History, particularly with regard to
the Muslim conquests, prepetuated by Marxist historians.
A. Marxist and western historians
have voluntarily ignored or downplayed the bloodiness of Muslim invasions
in India for various reasons the first one being that in 1947 the Soviet
Union had decided for political gains, to cater to the Arab world and make
them goody-goodies-which they certainly are not. Nehru just followed
suit.
Q. In 1940, Sri Aurobindo
prophetically wrote: "In Kashmir, the Hindus had all the monopoly.
Now if the Muslim demands are acceded to the Hindus will be wiped out again".
How the Indian political establishment must deal with this burning issue?
A. Please see the film "Mission
Kashmir". Its message is exactly the opposite of what should be done.
There has to be a firm stand on Kashmir, as advocated by the RSS, while'
acknowledging that it is a problem which sprang out of Partition and that
as long as Pakistan and India do not recognise the necessity of reuniting-under
any form-the problem will endure.
Q. A section of Indian media
accuse the Indian administration of "suppressing the genuine democratic
aspirations' of the people of Kashmir.
A. India is one of the freest
countries in Asia. Whoever says that, just send them to China, they
will see if they can slander the Government there in the Press, if Christian
missionaries can freely convert poor Chinese, or how corrupt people are
immediately put into jail, if not executed.
Q. Where, according to you,
does India's roots lie?
A. India's genius is its
spirituality, which has survived so many invasions and is still alive today
at a time when only intolerant religions are, left in the world.
Q. Do educated Indians suffer
from an inferiority compled vis-a-vis the west?
A. Yes, that is due to Macaulay's
education policy which produced generations of Indians who are ashamed
of their country. On top of that today's education system produces
children who are cut off from their roots and ignore the greatness of their
country. This has to change.
Q. Hinduism considers nature
as part and parcel of the Divine. But our environment is polluted
to a great extent. Why this immense paradox? What is the way out?
A. Buddhism is partly responsible
for this neglecting of the environment. Hindus today have become
amongst the least ecologically conscious people of the world-look at what
that have done to the Ganges they worship so much. The key word is
education of the people and strict enforcement of laws protecting the environment.
But so far, no government, including the present one, have bothered.
Q. Eminent thinkers of the
world are of the view that western civilization has reached a dead-end.
Both capitalism and communism. have proved to be inadequate to meet
the challenging needs of humanity. India is also facing threats,
aggressions, pitfalls and perils. Is the future bleak?
A. Yes, Western society has
reached the end of the road and India holds the key to its salvation.
But for that India has to become a super power without losing its soul
to globalisation and westernisation.
Q. The westernized educational
system does not teach the children the greatness of their own culture.
Could you spell out the way in which our educational system be revamped?
A. The Human Resources Minister,
M.M. Joshi, has started on this process, but has also met with a
lot of resistance. Education in India has to be Indianised at all
costs.
Q. You came from France, the
birth place of The Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram. What is your view
of the recent incidents of violence against the Indian Christian community?
A. The massive outcry going
on in India about the "atrocities against the minorities" raises also doubts
about the quality and integrity of Indian journalism. Take for instance
the rape of the four nuns in Jhabua. Today the Indian Press (and
the foreign correspondents) are still reporting that it was a "religious"
rape. Yet those journalists who went to Jhabua and met the four adorable
nuns, found out that they themselves admitted, along with their bishop
George Anatil, that it had nothing to do with religion-it was the doing
of a gang of Bhil tribals, known to perpetrate this kind of hateful acts
on their own women. Yet, the Christian hierarchy and many Human Right
associates continue to include the Jhabua rape in the list of the atrocities
against the Christians.
Q. To what extent are India
and Indian culture represented/ misrepresented in the western media.
A. Ninety-nine per cent misrepresented.
