This is the universal strategy of Leftists and Islamic supremacists as well: to claim victim status and endeavor to use it to deflect attention away from unwanted scrutiny. Daisy Khan, the wife of Ground Zero Mosque imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, claimed during that controversy that she had received death threats. The abysmally ignorant pseudo-academic Mia M. Bloom claimed to have been threatened after I published the rude, semi-literate rants she sent to me. Likewise Australian Professor Anne Aly claimed first to have received “hate mail” after I exposed her deceptions about beheading and Islam, and then, when that didn’t get the traction she apparently wanted, upped the ante to death threats in an email to the Australian Prime Minister.
In reality, Islamic supremacists and Leftist academics are not the ones under threat. Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore and Reza Aslan don’t need bodyguards when they speak on college campuses; they’re hailed as heroes by the thoroughly indoctrinated students. Only conservatives and foes of jihad terror need bodyguards on college campuses. I myself narrowly escaped being assaulted while speaking at NYU a few years ago. And as this article correctly points out, Pamela Geller is under a real threat from the Islamic State for daring to stand up for the freedom of speech against violent intimidation, and that threat comes from the group that Deepa Kumar prefers to the United States. Kumar should move there and enjoy her Paradise.
And in closing, here are a few of the death threats I have received — these are different from those that Kumar, Khan, Bloom and Aly claim to have received in that these are genuine:
“Robert Spencer has his right to speech. But someday he will slip up, he will visit a place that doesn’t honor such infidel ‘rights.’ And what a day they will have with him. You’ve heard of head cheese and blood pudding? See, modern hip Muslims like me like to be look different than everybody else in Western society. And we don’t like to believe Islam has any real enemies left. But Robert Spencer, well, he will see the sacred text come to life…’fuel the fires of hell…’ only when they are done with him. Peace and Love.”
“Robert Spencer the Second, born on February 27, 1962, is a hairy man who…currently lives on [specific street] in [specific city] with [specific relatives]…” This one recalls the thug Nathan Lean of John Esposito’s Alwaleed bin Talal Center of Muslim-Christian Understanding, who has repeatedly tweeted what he thinks is my home address and places he thinks I frequent, in a clumsily obvious attempt to frighten me into silence and/or give jihadis tips on where they can find and behead me.
“Killing of this man is a model… SPENCER-Model..Spencer himself deserves the same? he should be sloughtered like that man. Silencing the EVIL.”
“THIS IS AN OPEN THREAT TO YOU AND YOUR ORGANIZATION TO STAY AWAY FROM MUSLIMS AND ISLAM IF YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR YOU. YOU SON OF A BITCH . YOUR MOTHER WAS A C**K-SUCKING WHORE . IF YOU GOT THE GUTS AND BALLS PRINT THIS ON YOUR WEB SITE AND TELL PEOPLE THAT YOU ARE BEING THREATENED. U FILTHY C**K-SUCKER HAVE A NICE DAY”
“Yes. Yes..We finally reached out him. Ka’ab Binu Ashraf has been traced. He will be soon found. Will this be like VAN-Goooordhd. I am not sure. Allah Knows.. But Spencer you will pay the price…Just wait to pay the price.” According to Islamic tradition. Ka’ab Binu Ashraf was a poet who mocked Muhammad in his verses and was subsequently murdered on Muhammad’s orders. “VAN-Goooordhd” means treated like Theo Van Gogh, whom an Islamic jihadist murdered on an Amsterdam street for daring to criticize Sharia mistreatment of women.
“Robert….It was really good I found you in a local supermarket. and I followed you.. so i know your address now..tell you fool followers you are going to be deceased very soon… any one taking your seat and getting killed? I am sure most of your followers are cheeky cowards.”
“Be careful, I am very near to you. I located you and I know you have little security around you. I am coming to slit your throat with a bland knife.. and it will pain a lot.. since you misled a lot of people and became a fitnah on earth.. it is a duty of a good muslim to kill you! go report this to FBI or CIA..And don’t worry, I won’t attack you unguarded.. but i will surely kill you in the most easy manner possible because I don’t like to slaughter human beings.. Die and go to hell.. for sure..and yea I have a new name for you…Robert ‘hawknoseinhell’ spencer.”
“Rutgers Prof Deepa Kumar Criticized for ISIS Tweet; Complains of ‘Death Threats,'” by Cinnamon Stillwell, Campus Watch, July 31, 2015:
Another Middle East studies academic is in the news for exposing her radical views to the public via social media. Deepa Kumar, an associate professor in media and Middle Eastern studies at Rutgers University, has been roundly criticized for tweeting in March, “Yes ISIS is brutal, but US is more so, 1.3 million killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.” (For a detailed analysis of this oft-repeated, inflated death toll, click here.)Following Breitbart contributor and Marine Corps University Chair of Military Theory Sebastian Gorka’s appearance this week on Fox and Friends to discuss Kumar’s tweet, the professor claimed to have received “hate mail” and “death threats,” which, if true, is lamentable, but merely means she’s experiencing the reality of being in the public eye. Moreover, given the proclivity of Middle East studies academics for making false death threat claims, one should be skeptical about her story. Charlotte Allen, writing for the Independent Women’s Forum, adds some perspective by suggesting that, “about those death threats, she ought to ask . . . Pamela Geller. (Speaking of Kumar’s pals at ISIS.).”
Faced with the horror of outside criticism, Kumar complained to Inside Higher Ed that her work was “taken out of context” and “distorted” as part of an organized campaign to “silence and intimidate faculty who have dissenting opinions on the U.S. government and policies in the Middle East.” Given that Kumar bragged that she and other leftist activists “won” when Condoleezza Rice withdrew from a planned 2014 commencement address at Rutgers, her attempt to don the mantle of victim is as farcical as her protestations.
D.C. Watson says
Then why doesn’t she take her ass over to the Middle East and share her obvious ‘infinite wisdom’ at a University over there? Or she could be the head teacher at an all girls school. What an ignorant individual and a perfect example of the America hating pond scum that exists in our nation’s colleges posing as educators. .
abad says
The one thing that never ceases to amaze me is how these academic Liberals sing the praises of the Islamic State (ISL) but refuse to go over there and set foot on their property to give the ISL leaders a physical pat on the back.
Oh and the same can be said for anyone else who has a high opinion of ISL, whether it is Obama, Sean Penn, or any other Looney Leftist.
Hypocrisy at its very finest.
Owen Morgan says
“Then why doesn’t she take her ass over to the Middle East and share her obvious ‘infinite wisdom’ at a University over there?”
Kumar is a Hindu name. She knows she wouldn’t last five seconds in isis-hell. It’s easier, safer and considerably more lucrative to strike poses at an American university.
Huck Folder says
Meet her twin sister, separated at birth:
Sunera Thobani – Liu Institute for Global Issues
Associate Professor at the Institute for Gender,Race,
Sexuality and Social Justice at UBC.
jihad3tracker says
*********** OFF TOPIC BUT VERY IMPORTANT ************
For readers and commenters here who have NOT watched the video 13 posts before this one, with Robert, imam Anjem Choudary, and a Muslim Ph.D (name forgotten, sorry), PLEASE SPARE 32 MINUTES TO HEAR A TRULY ****** HONEST, NON-DECEIVING ******* MEMBER OF ALLAH’S ARMY.
That is Choudary, who can always be relied on for “telling it like it is” as the old expression goes. Send links to your clueless legislators. A bit of background from you would certainly be helpful, including the fact that, as an imam, Choudary is deeply immersed in Islamic texts and teachings.
And remind those you contact that such hatred of our Constitution and civil law is virtually certain to also be in the hearts and minds of imams all across the United States . . . influencing what they to “worshippers” at Friday prayers, showing yet again that Sharia is NOT COMPATIBLE WITH A NON-SECTARIAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM.
voegelinian says
In addition to the video, I recommend people read the comments section where there is some discussion of the perhaps ultimately more dangerous Muslim, Zuhdi Jasser, who is more — or less — successfully purveying his brand of stealth jihad — the :Better Cop: routine — opposite Chowderhead’s scenery-chewing as a Bad Cop.
Better Cops
http://hesperado.blogspot.com/2015/07/better-cops.html
duh_swami says
I had Jasser figured out the first time I saw him on FOX…I wasn’t born yesterday, and I ain’t nobody’s fool…
cs says
Zuhdi Jasser, Islam for democracy, I think he is part of the Gatestone institute.
Papa Whiskey says
From this wackademic’s Wikipedia entry:
“Following the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy which attempted to depict the Islamic Prophet Muhammed in a caricatural light, Kumar wrote an article against the publication of the cartoons titled ‘Danish Cartoons: Racism Has No Place on the Left’, where she argues that the left’s criticism of Muslim outrage is actually a form of anti-Muslim racism.”
The entry also lists her nationality as “Indian-American” and notes that she earned her B.A. at Bangalore University. So — an Indian national who emigrated here, even though America is worse than the Islamotopia. Let’s do her a favor and deport her.
voegelinian says
…Kumar wrote an article against the publication of the cartoons titled ‘Danish Cartoons: Racism Has No Place on the Left’, where she argues that the left’s criticism of Muslim outrage is actually a form of anti-Muslim racism.”
Yet another datum — from literally mountains and mountains of data out there over the years — indicating that the PC MC (and of course Leftist) racialization of the problem of Islam 1) is going on all over the damn place, and 2) is a key component in the PC MC paradigm by which the Western mainstream persists in its disastrous myopia to the problem of Islam. And yet Angemon scratched his head and wondered where in world I had come up with this notion; as though he hadn’t really been digesting these mountains of data reported on Jihad Watch over the past decade plus (not to mention that Jihad Watch does not even represent all of the data out there — the Gates of Vienna blog often has stories and analyses not reported here, which have added countless instances of the racialization meme in the PC MC mainstream). More importantly, Angemon’s friends have not taken him to task for this egregious lacuna in his Counter-Jihad Cred — a lacuna made even worse by its being part of the basis for his hundreds of attacks on me over the years in Jihad Watch comments.
Angemon says
voegelinian posted:
“And yet Angemon scratched his head and wondered where in world I had come up with this notion”
Voeg, I know that one of your defining features (besides your inability to accurately describe reality) is that you think you can read minds. But I can assure I did not scratch my head or wondered anything – I rightfully called you out on your grossly ignorant assertion that most Westerners are racists. I also pointed out, many times, that charges of “racism” are thrown around as a blunt tool to silence criticism precisely because most people are not racist and consider racism to be a bad thing. Now look again to what you say is evidence that you’re right:
A serious person, willing to have a serious discussion, would undoubtedly see that as someone using a charge of “racism” to silence criticism of islam and muslims. You, on the other hand, being a narcissist and serial propagandist (Goebbels would be proud) not only refused to present my view, you also tried to spin something that complies with it as being evidence of your nonsense.
“More importantly, Angemon’s friends have not taken him to task for this egregious lacuna in his Counter-Jihad Cred — a lacuna made even worse by its being part of the basis for his hundreds of attacks on me over the years in Jihad Watch comments.”
In your dualspeak, “attacks” is synonym with “criticism”. Or, in this case, and according to you, scratching my head and wondering where you got your notion – apparently scratching my head and thinking to myself is an attack on you. Funny how your definition of “attack” is quite fluid – anything can be an “attack” on you, apparently. As for what my friends should or not do, a couple of months ago you were like this (and I’m paraphrasing here):
“Why aren’t my friends helping me and telling Angemon to shut the f*** up and let me speak?”
Now you’re like (again, paraphrasing):
“Why aren’t Angemon’s friends telling him to shut the f*** up and let me speak?”
Do you see the problem with that, voeg? Really, do you think people here are that stupid?
Angemon says
Also, voeg, a friendly piece of advice: going out of your way to shoehorn in an attempt to demonize another user, whether it’s me, PJ, mortimer, Jay, or anyone else, does not sit well with your islamic playing-the-victim narrative. You end up looking like the “palestinians” of the CJ movement (and, giving what you’ve been doing to Robert, Hugh, Raymond and other forefront figures on the CJ movement, it’s a stretch to assume you’re part of the CJ movement): they shoot rockets into Israel, celebrate the death of Israelis by dancing and giving out candy in the streets, but they want everyone to believe they’re poor, innocent, oppressed victims of Israeli “attacks”.
Champ says
Bravo. Angemon! That analogy is actually a very good fit for voeg’s behavior. And notice — once again — that voeg is goading you and on a thread that you’ve yet to contribute on. Voeg continues to drag down one thread, after another, by doing this.
Champ says
voeg wrote:
More importantly, Angemon’s friends have not taken him to task for this egregious lacuna in his Counter-Jihad Cred — a lacuna made even worse by its being part of the basis for his hundreds of attacks on me over the years in Jihad Watch comments.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“More importantly”? Ridiculous! That’s hilaaaaarious!!! 😀
This may be *more important* to voeg, but on a scale of 1 to 10: 10 being most important, then voeg’s contention doesn’t even make the cut for what’s truly important. In fact I would give the *importance* that voeg raises here a minus 10. “More importantly” ..wow what an ego. But thanks for the laugh! 😀
Ok, the facts: For one thing, the charges that voeg has brought against Angemon aren’t even true, and for another thing, voeg has burned too many bridges with all of his “friends” here, so there’s no one left to defend him — if what he’s stating is true about Angemon, but again — it’s not!
And I, for one, do NOT defend LYING BACKSTABBERS.
Fight your own battles big baby.
Angemon says
“his hundreds of attacks on me over the years”
As if we needed further evidence that you can’t describe reality to save your life… For months you’ve been repeating the same propaganda, but you’ve failed to deliver wen called out on it: show me one of these alleged “attacks” going back years. I’ve told you several times, I don’t remember interacting with you before July-August 2014 – that’s one year, at most, and you have yet to prove otherwise, despite your repeated claims of “years”.
Once again: put up or shut up (although I know you’ll do none of those things – Goebbels would be proud).
voegelinian says
Again, for the thousandth time. I state a point, Angemon and his brainless cheerleader chimes & chirps in; and nary another Jihad Watcher on the horizon to weigh in with something showing a semblance of critical thinking out of the lockstep of the JW Clique-Box — instead, only a tumbleweed or two rolling across the prairie and the wind whistling through the saloon doors…
Angemon says
voegelinian posted:
“Again, for the thousandth time.”
Hyperbole much? It’s as if you don’t have anything of substance to say and instead you need to play the poor, innocent victim…
“I state a point, Angemon and his brainless cheerleader chimes & chirps in”
As I stated before, you couldn’t describe reality to save your life – what you did was to spin a comment around in order to lie about me. And now you’re insulting Champ, and you do this while trying to play the victim – it doesn’t work like that voeg: you can’t insult others and claim they’re attacking you.
“and nary another Jihad Watcher on the horizon to weigh in with something showing a semblance of critical thinking out of the lockstep of the JW Clique-Box”
Translation: no one here is interested in toeing your party line – presumably since they saw how you kicked the few people who spoke in your behalf in the teeth precisely because they possess critical thinking and applied it to what you write – therefore everyone here must lack critical thinking.
Angemon says
Also, when are you planning to present evidence that I’ve been “attacking” you for years? It’s been what, 3-4 months?, since you first made that claim, even though I only started interacting with you around July-August 2014. Do you have any interaction between us going further back than that that you consider as an “attack” (which, at this rate, could simply by me saying ‘you’re right, voeg’ – your definition of an attack seems to be very fluid and vary depending on the occasion)? Put up or shut up, kid.
Champ says
Angemon wrote:
“I state a point, Angemon and his brainless cheerleader chimes & chirps in”
As I stated before, you couldn’t describe reality to save your life – what you did was to spin a comment around in order to lie about me. And now you’re insulting Champ, and you do this while trying to play the victim – it doesn’t work like that voeg: you can’t insult others and claim they’re attacking you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Precisely, Angemon. And all voeg has at his disposal are invectives that he uses against me; since he can’t argue the main points I’m making because I’m right. All he’s demonstrating here is what a jerk he is.
Just A Concerned Citizen says
Can’t say I’m surprised. When an old girlfriend was attending Rutgers, there were times when our only chance to meet up would be to sneak into a lecture with her. She was always very explicit with me: “Do NOT engage the enemy.” Had to just sit there quietly and nod.
She was smart enough to not buy all the indoctrination they had been feeding her, but I certainly left more than one of those lectures visibly annoyed with the state of higher education in Jersey.
abad says
That is exactly what I did in college. I recall attending one special off-class time lecture strictly out of interest and morbid curiosity – about the post events of 9-11 (this was like three months after that infamous day). I simply sat in the audience, listened intently, by the time i was all over, thought to myself: “These guys are cuckoo.” Two of the people on the panel being my professors, no less. Don’t know how they can look at themselves in the mirror every morning…..
Jay Boo says
These Islamic supremacists who claim victim status would have a lot more credibility if they stopped using the claim in knee-jerk fashion — every time they are asked a difficult question or when they are trying to sleaze through a particularly implausible smear campaign.
Stephanie says
… “Robert….It was really good 🙂 I found you in a local supermarket. and I followed you.. so i know your address now..tell you fool followers you are going to be DECEASED VERY SOON (only this very weak counter-‘arguement’, Muslims have!)
… any one taking your seat and getting killed? I am sure most of your followers are cheeky cowards.”
“WATCH FOR YOUR HANDS” a young WELL-INTEGRATED(to Supreme-traitor merkel) MUSLIM
said to me yesterday, while I holding a sign in the city: (pic) 5:38 “Amputate their hands”
jayell says
She claims that the USA is worse than ISIS. Then, having insulted American citizens, she complains that she gets death-threats, (just like you’d do with ISIS although you wouldn’t have to insult them first). There’s something wrong there….
Oliver says
Jayell-in ISIS, i don’t think that they issue death threats. They just kill the person. From what I have read. NOT FIRST HAND OBSERVATION.
As for this bitch, she should jsut go there, along with her family, friends and fellow (sister?) believers.
Karen says
Unfortunately, the whole post-secondary system has evolved into a self-perpetuating fantasy-world bubble of disciplines that employ people who cannot be employed anywhere else. No doubt the Middle East Studies Dept. of Rutgers offers several courses of elective-but-mandatory credit forced upon the student body, in between hosting conferences critical of all things American.
I hang my head in shame at what Robert Spencer must endure. He has chosen a very difficult path, one that must be unbearable at times, while I get fed this critical information from afar in safety.
livingengine says
Deepa Kumar is a crackpot Marxist with academic expertise.
Here she is claiming the Islamophobes receive 50 billion dollars in funding. @ 8:20 This isn’t just a mistake. It is repeated back to her, and she acknowledges it.
@3:21 Loonwatch is featured.
@11:01 she tells us that she held an event far larger than Pamela’s 35k 2010 911 observance, and that she forced Pamela out of the city.
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10698
Here is an appearance of Deepa Kumar on RT where she throws around the figure of trillions of dollars.@3:30 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMnDf75aHns
Her sloppiness continues here, where the video has been edited twice to, I am assuming, omit some of her other misstatements, such as when the moderator has to interrupt her when she confuses Michele Obama with Michele Bachman. @33:55
@1:04:30 She indicates a desire to work with CAIR, and admiration for Tariq Ramadan.
@48:59 she says the same thing that happened to the Japanese interned during WW2 has happened to the Muslims.
@1:08:00 she is asked about the Material Support law. Instead of talking about this, Deepa Kumar begins talking about COINTELPRO @1:16:00.
voegelinian says
Deepa Kumar, an associate professor in media and Middle Eastern studies at Rutgers University…
With this professor, we get a twofer: She is both a Leftist and a bonafide dhimmi (betraying her provenance and ancestry of Hindu Indians who suffered more than ten Holocausts at the hands of murderous Mohammedans).
Jaladhi says
This is what lefty liberalism does to anybody’s brain – same as what Islam does to Muslim brains. She, Hindu American grown here, doesn’t even acknowledge her Hindu ancestry let alone know what Muslim invaders did to her Hindu ancestors of India, killing more than 80 million of them! You can find many of such specimens in India also, specially the Hindu Bollywood actresses proudly marrying Muslim actors whose kids always become Muslims. What a travesty!!
But then those who don’t remember history are bound to repeat it!!
Robair says
Then why you stay in America If US worse than Your Islamic State? America Should Kick you & all others like you Out .
underbed cat says
To Robert, these threats sound like the real “hate speech” to me. I cannot believe that after making these death threats that these people are allowed to walk freely…if any woman or man was threatened by their spouse, they could be arrested under domestic violence laws…I am an advocate of free speech but not this graphic threat…this is not illegal?
subzero says
I’m really getting angry at our government for the shameful way it treats US citizens.
Obama, and a lot of other officials, should be deported to Iraq. They can live in that embassy we spent millions of dollars on in the ‘Green Zone’.
Thank you for what you do.
Oliver says
Is Deeper Karma related to Deep(er) throat or to Bad Karma?
Hope that she dies soon.
By the way, isn’t Rutgers a STATE UNIVERSITY? if so, why is the state allowing someone who hates the country teach there? Academic freedom should not include traitors who wish to destroy the country. AND DENY ACADEMIC FREEDOM TO OTHERS
Just my views
Jaladhi says
In case , you haven’t noticed, this is what most US universities have become!! You must have read about instructions given to students of Uni. of New Hampshire(?) about the language they should and should not use in which they are advising students not to call themselves “Americans” because it implies USA is the only country in North America. After all we can’t ignore our neighbors Canada and Mexica – it will be insulting to them!! Hmm …what can you expect from the students coming out of such unpatriotic universities!!
Oliver says
A few days ago, James Taranto, Best Of The Web–a Wall Street Journal blog- had an interesting article about this. One exchange, a person who is Mexican got into an argument-he felt that being called a Mexican was NOT insulting; the Univ. anals did think ti was insulting.
Oliver says
Just to clarify my earlier comment. BY DEEP THROAT, I MEAN THE MOVIE (ACTRESS?0 (I think, formerly worked advertising Ivory Snow detergent) not the FBI slime who turned on President Nixon.
Arthur says
Robert, I’m no cheeky coward. I’d protect you with everything I’ve got, should you ever need to seek refuge. Wish I could send more material ($$$) support than I have, but I’ll send more. Stay safe!
cheryl s. says
Rutgers University, eighth oldest college in America, once affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church and one of nine colonial colleges founded before the American revolution!
At one time, a very, very good university.
BUT, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, HOW FAR YOU HAVE FALLEN.
This so-called bastion of higher learning has become nothing more than a state sanctioned breeding ground for virulent Anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism, and pro muslim fanaticism.
The radical piece of shite, aka, Deepa Kumar must feel right at home in the hallowed halls of Rutgers.
If she is feeling any public blow back (which I highly doubt) by those that still retain clarity in this nation, she will be well consoled by the legion of radical zealots. Those tenured Marxist professors pulling in hefty salaries at tax payer expense, living the life of the radical agitator with impunity while sticking it to the man. Way to go you bloated, self satisfied parasites
Whenever I pass by Rutgers I cannot feel anything but utter revulsion and contempt.
Moms and Dads, if you have any kind of conscience and love for your children, pull them out of this Alinsky indoctrination school before the maniacs transform them into good little islamo-nazis, forever.
sidney penny says
http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/23590/
FACT CHECK: A data-driven response to professor who says America is more ‘brutal’ than ISIS
“As a professor of journalism, Kumar’s willingness to grasp at paper-thin evidence that justifies her radical beliefs raises serious questions about her professionalism and competence. Student journalists under her tutelage should be concerned about the quality of instruction they are paying for.”
sidney penny says
Not too many academics have studied logic or have learned how to argue and or debate.
-yes you will always have the argument from authority.Not effective
-resort to the hackneyed swear-words
-far from being serious academicians they are cynical politicians hawking ad hoc or plausible explanations in the service of a party line.
-professors who are patronized by such platforms.
-Big Lie being spread
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE MARXIST PROFESSORS
http://voiceofdharma.org/books/htemples2/app4.htm
Summary below but read the whole thing online.
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE MARXIST PROFESSORS
I
………………….
We stick to our position, namely, that it is the theology of Islam which offers the only straight-forward and satisfactory explanation of why Muslim conquerors and rulers did what they did to Hindu places of worship.
We have provided full facts about that theology, as also about the history of how it took its final shape. It would be most welcome if the professors come out with their comments on the character and meaning of this theology. In fact, we look forward to a Marxist explanation of it. What were the concrete material conditions and objective historical forces which gave rise to this theology in Arabia at that time?
……………..
There seems to be no other way. Sweeping generalizations based on slender or dubious evidence are no substitute for hard facts.
We hope that the professors will not resort to the hackneyed swear-words such as Hindu communalism, reactionary revivalism, and the rest.
Swear-words offer no solutions. In any case, the time when swear-words carried weight has passed. It is no use inviting the other side to hit back in a similar manner.
If the professors fail to come out with answers to questions posed by us, and to present the evidence in support of their statements, we shall be forced to conclude that far from being serious academicians, they are cynical politicians hawking ad hoc or plausible explanations in the service of a party line.
……………..
Such damage has already been done to the image of Hinduism, and much more damage is likely to result if this talk is not challenged and stopped. How loose and irresponsible this talk can be is illustrated by the following instance:
I attended a seminar on the Mandal Commission Report held in the Gandhi Peace Foundation in October, 1990. One of the participants who spoke in support of the Report was Shri Hukam Dev Narain Singh Yadav, an MP of the Janata Dal at that time and a Minister in the Chandra Shekhar Government some time later. Speaking of Brahminical tyranny, he referred to the time when rivers of the blood of Buddhist monks were made to flow in the Buddhist monasteries (jab bauddha vihãroñ mêñ bauddha bhikSuoñ kê rakta kî nadiyãñ bahãî gayî thîñ).
The following dialogue took place between myself and the speaker at the end of the latter’s talk:
I: Could you kindly name the Buddhist monasteries where it happened, and also the time when it happened?
Speaker: I will not pretend that I know. I must have heard it from someone, or read it somewhere.
I: I give you six months for finding a single instance of Hindus murdering Buddhist monks. I am demanding only one instance, not two.
Speaker: I will try.
The speaker looked to me to be one of the finest men I had ever met. His voice had a ring of sincerity in whatever he said. His humility in presenting his point of view was more than exemplary. I expected him to remember my question and provide an answer.
But two and a half years have passed and there is no word from the eminent politician occupying a high position in the public life of this country.
I know that the evidence demanded by me does not exist. It is a Big Lie being spread by Hindu-baiters. Hindus have never done what they are being accused of. My only point in mentioning the incident is that even honest people can become victims of hostile propaganda which is not countered in good time.
……………………….
II
When the first edition of this book came out, I sent a copy of it to Professor Romila Thapar of the Jawaharlal Nehru University in her capacity as the doyen of the Marxist historians.
………………..
I am drawing your attention to these pages so that your school does not plead ignorance of them while maintaining silence. Of course, you are free to ignore the questionnaire as coming from a person who has had no standing in the academic world. I, however, feel that there are many people still left in this country who care for truth more than for position
……………….
She was kind enough to reply by a letter which said:
As regards the issues raised in the questionnaire included in your book, you are perhaps unaware of the scholarly work on the subject discussed by a variety of historians of various schools of thought.
……………….
I wrote back, and stated my position as follows:
I wish you had refrained from striking the pose of superiority which has been for long the hallmark of your school of historians. It does not go well with academic discipline.
For your information I have been primarily a student of ancient India’s history and culture, and gone through a good deal of source material, literary as well as archaeological. One of the reasons I have wandered into India’s medieval and modern history is that I want to know what happened to Hindu heritage at the hands of latter-day liberators.
…………………
I am sorry to say that your pamphlet has added nothing to my knowledge or perspective. The method of selecting facts and floating fictions is very well known to me. Christian missionaries have done far better with lesser fare.
…………………
(continues further )
mortimer says
Deepa Kumar is obviously interested in the jihadi wife-of-the-week job description.
She should go for it!
Jihadi wife-of-the-week and daily atrocities in your neighborhood sure is better than boring old USA.
I’ll chip in for her one-way airfare.
mortimer says
Deepa Kumar is a perfect example of why ‘DIVERSITY PROMOTION’ is a bad investment. Not only do students not get their money’s worth (university tuition is damnably expensive), but teachers like Deepa Kumar insult their intelligence by speaking ex cathedra without using facts and evidence…in the professional way a journalist is supposed to do.
She obviously doesn’t have the goods to be a full professor or even a teacher of journalism. She got her degrees and titles through ‘diversity promotion’.
Cosby got his doctorate in a similar manner.
manas says
prof kumar just get your brains fixed quick you know not what are saying and what evil u r supporting
Aton says
I am not surprised about anything eminating from that slime-ball so-called university.
I had a student there print downright lies about myself, and when I complained to the principle, she said that lying was merely ‘freedom of speech’. Yes, these are the levels that US academia have sunk to.
Aton