I have difficulty understanding the mindset of people like Praful Bidwai who, in their eagerness to attack Murli Manohar Joshi, miss one fundamental point. Unfortunately, because of the neglect of Sanskrit many of the gems are lost to us. Yet we seem reluctant to do anything about it. We need not be ashamed of learning about our past through translation of the manuscripts in Sanskrit. It might give our youth a sense of belonging and an idea of their roots at a time when they are weaned away by crass materialism and the increasingly decadent lifestyle of the West.
Modernity clouds their judgment.
While saffronisation per se is narrow-minded and bigoted, there are certain ideas that deserve serious investigation. There is no point in throwing the baby along with the bath water. I might well have considered not writing the book out of deference to the review. However, on some crucial points, the reviewer gets things wrong, and it is just as well for me to point these out. One, the partition of India was not just an agreement between the Congress and the Muslim League but a tripartite arrangement, with the colonial state constituting the third, and the most important, arm.