Talk:Akeel Bilgrami

By Sachi Anjunkar

Akeel Bilgrami is a Sidney Morgenbesser Professor of Philosophy, at the Department of Philosophy at Columbia University as of February 2023 . According to his university profile, Professor Bilgrami's interest lies in the philosophy of language and mind as well as political philosophy and moral psychology, particularly as they relate to politics, political economy, history, and culture.

In 2021, he endorsed the "Dismantling Global Hindutva" conference and made the allegation

"the current government of India [in 2021] has instituted discriminatory policies including beef bans, restrictions on religious conversion and interfaith weddings, and the introduction of religious discrimination into India’s citizenship laws. The result has been a horrifying rise in religious and caste-based violence, including hate crimes, lynchings, and rapes directed against Muslims, non-conforming Dalits, Sikhs, Christians, adivasis and other dissident Hindus. Women in these communities are especially targeted. Meanwhile, the government has used every tool of harassment and intimidation to muzzle dissent. Dozens of student activists and human rights defenders are currently languishing in jail indefinitely without due process under repressive anti-terrorism laws."

Anti Hindu/Hindutva comments

# Bilgrami, Akeel. “Secularism, Identity, and Enchantment.” Philpapers.org, 2014, philpapers.org/rec/BILSIA-2.

'Summary of Essay - Gandhi, the Philosopher from Secularism, Identity and Enchantment

Akeel Bilgrami shares his perceptions of Mohandas Gandhi. According to His views Gandhi was a perfect embodiment of Nonviolence and Integrity that Gandhi followed throughout his life and tried to evoke the same within the Individuals of the nation. In the article, Akeel Bilgrami mentions that Hindu -Muslim riots and Caste system within Hinduism acted as hindrances towards Gandhi’s vision to Improve the state of India.

Bilgrami Makes unsubstantiated comments on Hindu caste system by saying that it consists of an exclusionary attitude where in every caste has a (lower caste) that a group of people constituted and was excluded.

Following are the claims made by Akeel Bilgrami

• The social psychology of the Hindu caste system consists of an exclusionary attitude. For each caste, there was a lower caste which constituted the other and which was to be excluded from one’s way of life, again by the most brutal physical and psychological violence."
• Quoting Authors words - "When I think sometimes about caste in India—without a doubt the most resilient form of exclusionary social inegalitarianism in the history of the world—it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that even the most alarming aspects of religious intolerance are preferable to it. To say “You must be my brother,” however wrong, is better than saying “You will never be my brother.” In religious intolerance there is at least a small core which is highly attractive."

In conclusion, Akeel Bilgrami makes statements that are not substantiated by evidences and statistically are not proven.

Publications related to India

1. Bilgrami, Akeel, and Jonathan R. Cole. “Who’s Afraid of Academic Freedom?” Philpapers.org, 2015, philpapers.org/rec/BILWAO .
2. Bilgrami, Akeel. “Democratic Culture: Historical and Philosophical Essays.” Philpapers.org, 2013, philpapers.org/rec/BILDCH-3 .
3. Bilgrami, Akeel. “Reflections on Three Populisms.” Philpapers.org, 2018, philpapers.org/rec/BILROT-4 .
4. Bilgrami, Akeel. “Secularism: Its Content and Context.” Philpapers.org, 2014, philpapers.org/rec/BILSIC .
5. Bilgrami, Akeel. “Gandhi’s Integrity: The Philosophy behind the Politics.” Postcolonial Studies, vol. 5, no. 1, Apr. 2002, pp. 79–93, https://doi.org/10.1080/13688790220126906.
6. Bilgrami, Akeel. “Occidentalism, the Very Idea: An Essay on Enlightenment and Enchantment.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 32, no. 3, Mar. 2006, pp. 381–411, https://doi.org/10.1086/505373.
7. Dummett, Michael, and Akeel Bilgrami. Truth and the Past. Columbia University Press, 2006.
8. Bilgrami, Akeel. “Reflections on Three Populisms.” Philosophy & Social Criticism, vol. 44, no. 4, May 2018, pp. 453–62, https://doi.org/10.1177/0191453718772896. Accessed 9 Oct. 2020.
9. Bilgrami, Akeel. "Belief and Meaning : The Unity and Locality of Mental Content". Blackwell, 1994.
10. Bilgrami Akeel. "Nature and Value". Columbia University Press, 2020.
11. Bilgrami Akeel. "Self-Knowledge and Resentment". Harvard University Press, 2012.

References

Secularism, Identity and Enchantment by Akeel Bilgrami accessed March 7, 2023