Dharma and the Academy: A Hindu Academic's View

Abstract

The relations between the academic community and the Hindu community have recently come to be characterized by a sharp debate, which has also spilled over into journalism and the Internet. This development has been prompted by the reservations expressed by a significant number of Hindus in North America and India over the way Hinduism is portrayed in the Western academia and by the vigorous response of the academic community to such criticism.

            As an academic, who is also a Hindu; or conversely, as a Hindu, who is also an academic, I (along with some of my other Hindu colleagues) stand at the volatile point of intersection between these two communities. This makes my role in the debate particularly fraught. I shall, nevertheless, try to address the issue or issues involved.