Most liberal Americans are simply unaware of the international political machinations of evangelicals. Funded and supported by the American Christian right, they promote a literal and extreme version of Christianity abroad and attempt to further a fundamentalist Christian political agenda using unscrupulous methods. In India, picking up where the colonialists left off, they have gone so far as to revive discredited racial theories and fabricate scholarship in a dangerous game of divide and rule.
In south India, a new identity called Dravidian Christianity is being constructed. It is an opportunistic combination of two myths: the "Dravidian race" myth and another that purports that early Christianity shaped the major Hindu classics!
The discredited Aryan race theory was discussed in my previous blog. Its counterpoint is the "Dravidian" race theory. Both constructs are equally damaging and have been proven false. The "Dravidians," the theory goes, were the original inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent and were driven to southern India by the invading, lighter skinned and racially different "Aryans."
While there is no mainstream "Aryan" political party in India, the Dravidianization of mainstream identity in the southern state of Tamil Nadu keeps the pernicious pair alive. The Aryan/Dravidian constructs are mutually dependent, and have been very successfully used to generate conflict, including violence (as in Sri Lanka in recent years).
The Dravidian race theory originated in 19th century European scholarship when colonial and evangelical interests used linguistics and ethnic studies to formulate imaginary histories and races. While European scholars were busy appropriating the Sanskrit classics as the heritage of Europeans, British linguists Francis Ellis and Alexander Campbell worked in India to theorize that the south Indian languages belong to a different family than the north Indian ones. Meanwhile, another colonial scholar, Brian Houghton Hodgson, was promoting the term "Tamulian" as a racial construct, describing the so-called aborigines of India as primitive and uncivilized compared to the "foreign Aryans."
But it was a scholar-evangelist from the Anglican Church, Bishop Robert Caldwell (1814-91), who pioneered what now flourishes as the "Dravidian" identity. In his Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Race, he argued that the south Indian mind was structurally different from the Sanskrit mind. Linguistic speculations were turned into a race theory. He characterized the Dravidians as "ignorant and dense," accusing the Brahmins -- the cunning Aryan agents -- for keeping them in shackles through the imposition of Sanskrit and its religion.
His successor, another prolific missionary scholar, Bishop G.U. Pope, started to glorify the Tamil classics era, insisting that its underpinnings were Christianity, not Hinduism. Though subsequently rejected by serious scholars of Tamil culture, the idea was successfully planted that Hinduism had corrupted the "originally pure" Tamil culture by adding Sanskrit and pagan ideas.
Meanwhile, an increasing number of Tamil leaders began to embrace the Dravidian identity. This evolved into Tamil chauvinism that was initially secular and not religious. It was fed by the theory that in the Indian Ocean there once existed a lost continent called Lemuria (similar to the Atlantis myth), the original homeland of the Dravidians. Accounts glorifying Lemuria were taught as historical fact under British rule, because this exacerbated the regional faultlines. After India's independence, Dravidian identity entered politics, and now dominates the state's power structure.
The Dravidian identity is now being increasingly Christianized. A new religion called "Dravidian Christianity" has been invented through a sudden upsurge of writings designed to "discover" the existence of quasi-Christianity in Tamil history prior to the coming of the "Aryan" Brahmins. The project is to co-opt Tamil culture, language and literature and systematically cleanse them of Hinduism. Christian interpretations and substitutes are being injected into the most cherished symbols, artifacts and literary works of Tamil Hindu culture.
The preposterous claim is that Tamil classical literature originated in early Christianity. The Tamil classical tradition consists of two great components: an ethical treatise called Thirukural (abbreviated Kural, authored by the great sage Thiruvalluvar), and a sophisticated Vedanta philosophical system called Saiva Siddhanta, which traces its origins to the Vedas and was nurtured by many Tamil savants over the centuries. Dravidian Christianity appropriates both these foundational works, attributing them to Christian influence. To make this credible, the pre-Christian date for Kural has been replaced by more recent dates.
The narrative used is that St. Thomas, the apostle, visited south India and taught Christianity to the great sage, Thiruvalluvar, who was inspired by Christianity, but did not capture St. Thomas' message accurately. This is often portrayed in recently published paintings showing the sage sitting at the feet of St. Thomas, taking notes. Sanskrit is downgraded as a language created by St. Thomas to spread the Christian message to the uncivilized north Indian races.
The Indian church has periodically announced archeological "discoveries" to back the visit of St. Thomas to south India, but none of them have been verified by professional archeologists. Even the famous Jesuit archeologist, Father Heras, dismissed the so-called discovery of Thomas' tomb in Chennai.
Western churches send billions of dollars to Tamil Nadu, the epicenter of the project to harvest Indian souls. While the sheer scale of intellectual fraud and prejudice is breathtaking, the church's political clout has enabled it to permeate university research, education, museums, politics and film. The state government is even supporting the production of an epic feature film on St. Thomas that will popularize this myth.
The Dravidian Christianity movement has organized an entire series of international conferences over the past decade, where its scholars make outlandish revisions to Indian religious history. They claim that the Bhagavad Gita, Tamil classics and even Sanskrit originated after Christ and under the influence of Christianity. The crackpot Lemurian theory pops up as well. A 2005 conference in New York had the theme, "International Conference on the History of Early Christianity in India." Senator Hillary Clinton greeted it with the message:
"I am confident that the breadth of resources presented during the conference will shed light on the impact of Christianity on medieval and classical India and its effects on the cultural and political climate of India..."
Dravidian Christianity has penetrated high places. For instance, Marvin Olasky, an advisor to President George W. Bush, declared that "the two major denominations of Hinduism -- Vishnu-followers and Shiva-followers -- arose not from early Hinduism but from early Christian churches probably planted by the apostle Thomas in India from AD 52 to 68." He goes on to explain to his American readers how Christianity brought many key notions into Hinduism.
In Breaking India, I demonstrate how an influential nexus of Christian funded institutions and scholars, often supported by western governments, are indulging in large-scale manipulations similar to those in colonial times. Meanwhile, in one of Chennai's most prominent public places stands a magnificent statue of Bishop Robert Caldwell, the icon who gave the Tamil people their "true history."
Rajiv Malhotra: European Misappropriation of Sanskrit led to the ...
Christianity in India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
April 24, 2009 ~ Ancient Christians in India | Religion & Ethics ...
Robert Caldwell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Aryan-Dravidian Controversy
comment:
1. Google the web for the following article and read it.
Aryan-Dravidian racist theory trashed again by genetic evidence
Aryan-Dravidian divide a myth: Study
TNN 25 September 2009, 01:16am IST
HYDERABAD: The great Indian divide along north-south lines now stands blurred. A pathbreaking study by Harvard and indigenous researchers on ancestral Indian populations says there is a genetic relationship between all Indians and more importantly, the hitherto believed “fact” that Aryans and Dravidians signify the ancestry of north and south Indians might after all, be a myth.
“This paper rewrites history… there is no north-south divide,” Lalji Singh, former director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and a co-author of the study, said at a press conference here on Thursday.
2. GO to the website for National Geographic, once there, go to the The National Genographic Project, order a kit, get your DNA sample analyzed to find out where your ancestors originated.
Migrations into India and the origins of its languages predate everything that we know and believe
by literally tens of thousands of years.
srv
"W.W.Wilson of Asiatic School of Bengal,after 1784,in the absence of archaeological evidences, long before the discovery of Indus Valley Civilization,riding on the medieval mythology of Vedic School which had a safe placementin historical vacuum,declared that Sanskrit was the earliest and oldest languagein India.In 1787,during the third anniversary of Asiatic School,William Jones,the first European Judgein India,and the first president of Asiatic School of Bengal,using his excellent knowledge of European languages , erroneously thinging that all Indians exceptIndo-Aryans were barbarians,immagined and formulated the famous Indo-European family of languages.Both these theories had powerful and longlasting influenceon linguistic pre-history of Inddia though born through unhistorical process without the backing of archaeology".
"After the birth and growth of archaeological explorations ans historical discoveries of Indus Valley civilization ,history now tells that Sanskrit language in India had a very
late origin in fourth century A.D.as the inscriptional language of ritual politics confirmed by the Guptas of Gangetic zone,Pallavas of Kanchimandalam and Vishnuguninins in the Deccan.Sanskrit literature was artificially produced to the benefit of a tiny minority , the beneficiaries of ritual state."
http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/21/stories/2011042153331100.htm
Hindu nationalism in India is kept in check by the workings of the constitutional democracy, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable accessed by The Hindu through WikiLeaks.
Geoff Pyatt, Political Counselor in the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, said that “the checks and balances built into the Indian Constitution have so far successfully blunted this piece of anti-conversion legislation”
Passed by the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in an Assembly session devoid of members of the Opposition who boycotted the proceedings, the bill was returned un-signed by Rajasthan Governor Pratibha Patil, “based on the judgment that parts of the bill may be unconstitutional,” the cable says.
The Governor returned the bill to the State Cabinet “with a recommendation that it be sent to President [A.P.J. Abdul] Kalam.”
The Cabinet returned the bill without any amendments to the Governor, explaining what it saw as the constitutionality of the bill, and arguing that her refusal to sign the bill was unconstitutional. The Governor held on to the proposed legislation for a year before forwarding it to President Kalam, who declined to approve it. This was as expected by the Rajasthani media, which had “predicted that the bill will be referred to President Kalam, who will choose to send it back to the State Assembly,”
http://www.forceministries.com/friends.php
So, how come a way of life be equated to religion?
The former is a choice - but the later is an enforcement.
There is no proselytizing dictated in hinduism.so, tell me how could it be imperial religion?
It seems that God gave such imperialistic religions conflicting and contradictory mandates. Hence the clash between Islam and Christianity, each claiming to obey the above statement using its own "true" account of the "one history".
More over, the portugese and the british were beaten black and blue by the dravidian kings like Pazhasi Raja even during the british era - The inefficiency of the british and other europeans in maintaining any colony what so ever by their destructive means itself shows their eurasian pastoral ancestors were utterly similar in making no good means in a civilized country like India.
It becomes disingenious when you conviniently deny that India is a result of major foreign invasions inlucidng but not limited to Huns, Persians, Kushans, Kambojas, Parthians,Shahis, Sakas that became the later Indians themsevles. There is no evidence to suggest that foreign invasions ever stopped in India.
Further, the foreign invasions into India and the development of Caste system comepltely subjugated the Dravidians as mere Slaves and Untouchables. Could you tell me the reason of the Slavery, if not subjugation? The legacy of Sangam period is lost as a reult. Also, you conviniently deny the geneological record of Dravidians and eurasian upper-castes proven through genetic findings.
India has always been history of many Empires in history and not a Nation. The only difference is that as a Hindu you would like to see it as a Hindu Empire rather than an Islamic or British Empire.
Second, you seem to call upon several invasions - but in reality - all those were thwarted back by the dravidians like 'satakarni - saalivahana', 'chandra gupta mouriya', et all.
So, where comes your notional history of subjugation with any solid base?
The dna analysis proves nothing -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmin_communities#Brahmin_communities_and_genetic_studies
"The Modern studies for R1a1 (M17) suggest that it could have originated in South Asia. It could have found its way initially from Western India (Gujarat) through Pakistan and Kashmir, then via Central Asia and Russia, before finally coming to Europe"..."as part of an archaeologically dated Paleolithic movement from east to west 30,000 years ago" - So, if you say the influx of xyz gene is there in bramhins and it is there in the europeans - so, it means europeans came to india and made themselves as bramhins - I am equally right in saying, the bramhins from India - went to europe and made several issues who are today the eurasian folks. what are the facts that presents to you that there is only a set defined way of travel of the dna??
If you count the present population of just Pak+India+Bangladesh, it is more than 1.5 billions- that's about 25% of the world population- not even China has that much of a total. And the rest of the States- each has no more than 80 millions (besides US, Russia...). In fact, all the mid-East States together amount equal to 2 or states in India... So, I wonder where did this guy went to school to learn "India has no record of historical nationhood. India in history always existed as a result of Imperialism and conquest"...?
There was no Indian nationhood in history only Imperial conquest.
Nobody taught you facts in your school so let me tell you some facts that your Hindu India is a creation of British Empire legitmized for HIndu Imperialism.
He is just pointing to the facts & figures, which unfortunately you are yet to bring to the discussion.
All your links are individual views & opinions and none are authorized by Indian govt., nor do they contain views endorsed by the Indian scientific community.
The links provided by you & your hidden agenda of separatist attitude, speaks volumes of the notional 'slave' theory you bring here.
All the scientific projects point to migration from the subcontinet towards europe and not the reverse way around.
It is systematic racial denegration to say that dravidians lost as a race and were subjugated - myself being a citizen of India and a from the dravidian region consider this an offence - with due regard to myself not being attached to any religious/cast/creed denomination.
This manipulated sense of pride was used by Indians to legitmize their independenece from the British and legitimize India as territorial aggrandizement of Hinduism. however, India has no record of historical nationhood. India in history always existed as a result of Imperialism and conquest.
Therefore, I want to ask you how can you break India when it never even existed as a nation?
Your first statement which you obviously coined for your self serving agenda is actually contradicting your second statement - this itself proves your dual standards.
by the way - what is the answer to my question???
http://home.iitk.ac.in/~amman/articles/DNAbased.html
The ancient history of India starts with the Imperialism of Huns, Persians, Kushans, Kambojas, Parthians,Shahis and is continued by the imperialism of Hindu Empires who are also descended from the foreign migrations.
The present day Hindu India a creation of British Empire in itself and a resultant of Imperialism.
Claiming nationhood for India on basis of continual Imperial history is almost claiming nationhood for Europe based on history of Christian Imperialisms that fundamentally denies nationhood to Europeans.
However, the west has moved away from its imperial past and Christianity and given nationhood to European people however, Hinduism claiming its imperialism denies nationhood of Ethnicity with myths of Vedic HIndu past that only needs to remain in the pre-historic imagination of mankind.
It is the same evil root of abrahamic faiths coming in different forms that we see them as muslims and christians.There is no difference in their motives - it is to demolish the local culture, history, tradition, practices and religion and supplant them with their own desert order or chaos and catastrophy.
All abrahamic faiths are fear inducing and fear craving religions - which keeps the masses by the end of world hoaxes.
Allow me to mention a word on- why Idle worship? Almighty-Brahman, in which we live, is too big, and Iswara, the Creator (and the Powers Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva), is invisible- so, our-Ancients, devised a simple Idle to represent the 'Almighty-god' and worship- whereas, Christians worship a false picture of 'Mary' etc.. and forgot 'Father' (Almighty-Brahman) or 'Holyghost' (Iswara)..
Is there any one who can teach the 'Sudra' ? The confused Brahmin or Druid or Native-American etc.. had or has million times better knowledge over the 'ignorant'- who is still going in the wrong path... That's why ONLY 'god' can teach a lesson...
M. Arunachalam, in an article in Christianity in India: A Critical Study, writes, “It is well known that the Portuguese sacked the famous Tiruchendur Murugan Temple on the sea coast and threw the idol into the sea. Sometime later, in 1654, the chieftain Vadamalaiyappa Pillai of Tirunelveli, salvaged the idol from the sea and installed it at the present Tiruchendur temple.
FYI - Lord Murugan is the Tamil Diety - a dravidian ideology.