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The Sitaram Goel Centenary Conference – Registration

The Sitaram Goel Centenary Conference – Registration

“India has no future till the words ‘Hindu’ and ‘Hinduism’ regain the pride that rightfully belongs to them, and the word ‘Secularism’ is seen for the poison it carries in its Nehruvian version. It is time for Hindu scholarship to see through the manipulations which have made the words ‘Hindu’ and ‘Hinduism’ sound dirty” – Hindus and Hinduism, (p. 36).

Sita Ram Goel (1921 – 2003) was one of the most significant voices in the fields of modern Indian social and cultural history from the last century. His work on the nature of the modern Hindu character, and the historical vicissitudes the community suffered in the medieval and modern eras of the Indian subcontinent earned him great renown, which also led to his work being marginalised with the rise of the post Nehruvian ‘modern’ Indian historical narrative.

In his book Catholic Ashrams: Sannyasins and Swindlers, Sita Ram Goel wrote in excruciating detail about the emergence of what has been called “the Christian Ashram Movement” which aimed towards an Indianisation of Christian orthodoxy, and a Christianisation of Indian indigenous religious and social cultures. What can be seen developing at a massive rate at the present moment in many Indian states like Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and even in Northeast Indian states like Assam and Tripura i.e., the rise of the Christian Baptist conversion machine, and the erasure of Hindu core cultures, was portrayed in markedly detailed language in the book, almost ‘prophetically’.

Goel wrote in the same book, “Hindu culture grew out of Hindu religion over many millennia. The one cannot be separated from the other without doing irreparable damage to both. The Christian mission is bent upon destroying Hindu religion. Hindu culture will not survive for long if the mission succeeds. The plundered Hindu plumage which Christianity will flaunt for a time is bound to fade before long, just as the Greek and Roman cultures faded. Let there be no mistake that the Christian mission is not only a destroyer of living religions but also of living cultures. It promises no good to a people, least of all to the Hindus.” (Catholic Ashrams: Sannyasins or Swindlers, p. 13).

On the centenary of Sita Ram Goel’s birth, in order to commemorate the life and times, and the work of Sitaram Goel, India Facts is organising the Sita Ram Goel Centenary Conference on 16th-17th of October, 2021 from 9:30 am till 6 pm (IST, both days). Speakers at this conference will include Shrikant Talageri, Koenraad Elst, Dileep Karanth, Saradindu Mukherji, Marc Joris, Shankar Saran, Ramakrishna Sitaraman and other scholars and activists.

The conference will cover aspects of Sita Ram Goel’s life and work that are very relevant in the present socio-cultural context that India is witnessing, including Goel’s opinions about the Moplah violence on Hindus, the Christian conversion machinery (mentioned earlier) and about modern Hindu-ness and Hindu sociality.

Participation in the conference is by registration only. The link for the registration can be accessed here – https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WQtoF1qIRSSIS5GhixuISg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IndiaFacts Staff

IndiaFacts Staff articles, reports and guest pieces