The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Faith and history

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Monday, Oct 01, 2007
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Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Faith and history

This refers to the article “Where fusion cannot work — faith and history” (Sept. 28). In a lucid and logical manner, without being offensive, Romila Thapar has advanced a forceful argument on the need to keep historicity and faith apart. This is necessary to prevent the kind of open clash witnessed today on Ramar Sethu. The attempt by the sangh parivar, particularly the BJP, to use the differences over the issue for political mobilisation, disregarding the inherent risks involved, is an irresponsible way to deal with a sensitive religious issue, to say the least.

Shahabuddin Nadeem,
Bangalore

* * *

To state the obvious, the article was brilliant. It exposed the hollow and shrill claims of the political party that has assumed the role of custodian of the Hindu faith. Equally, it chided the ruling party for not addressing the core issues of the Sethusamudram project and instead playing politics with scientific institutions. We need a leadership with the courage of conviction and not with a penchant to appease.

Air Cmde M. Vania (retd.),
Coimbatore

* * *

The Archaeological Survey of India and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi only questioned the historicity of the Ramayana and its characters. Unfortunately, the ASI’s affidavit on Ramar Sethu was withdrawn for obvious political reasons.

R. Chandrasekhar,
Ranipet

* * *

A reader has pointed out that ‘lanka’ in Telugu means island. It is true but the word is believed to have originated from the dialect of the Gonds of central India. The Gondi language and Telugu have some words in common. The word ‘lanka’ is found in neither Sanskrit nor Tamil. Lanka in the Ramayana does not refer to an island. One should not confuse the names of places because they change over a historical period. The Ramayana is part of our collective heritage. Let us welcome an objective study on it. But we cannot afford to let the self-proclaimed guardians of the Hindu faith hijack the nation one more time.

K.S. Chaitanya,
Hyderabad

* * *

There is no doubt that the term ‘lanka’ used in the Indian epics and the Puranas refers to Sri Lanka. It cannot be located in the Mahanadi delta or the Vindhyas as some historians believe. Valmiki would have surely known the difference between a river and an ocean. The Ramayana says Rama lived in Dandakaranya, which is in central India, during his exile. From here, he moved southward and reached the shores of the Indian Ocean.

K. Saibaba,
Hyderabad

* * *

The controversy generated by the Ramar Sethu issue involving faith, history, and politics reminds me of an interesting incident that took place in the Benaras Hindu University, where I was a student during 1947-51. A student from Ceylon was admitted into a mess run by the students. The cooks and their entourage usually came from Gorakhpur, where religious faith is very strong. The ‘maharajs,’ as they were respectfully called, decided to boycott the student from the land of Ravana and refused to serve him. Only after we, the students, threatened to expel them — we had the support of our professors who were also hostel wardens — was the Ceylonese able to join the mess of his choice.

P. Ramalingam,
Chennai

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