Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children is now freely available.
Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children Book Cover.webp
In this book, we examine the impact on Indian American children from school textbook narratives about Hinduism and ancient India, highlighting their alignment with colonial-racist discourse. This discourse causes psychological effects similar to those caused by racism: shame, inferiority, embarrassment, identity confusion, assimilation, and a detachment from their cultural heritage. The book represents four years of rigorous research and academic peer review, underscoring Hindupedia's dedication to challenging the portrayal of Hindu Dharma in academia.

Talk:S. Shankar

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Renuka Joshi


S. Shankar is a Professor of English and Chair of the English Department, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa as of 6th June 2023.[1] [2] According to his university profile, his scholarly areas of interest are postcolonial literature (especially of Africa and South Asia), literature of immigration, film, creative writing and translation studies.

He has published no books, papers, or research pertaining to the rights of Hindus, the impact or relationship between Islam and Hinduism / Hindutva, India, or the Indian Government.

In 2021, he along with Hibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Taliban, co-signed a letter supporting "Dismantling Global Hindutva" Conference, as an academic and scholar 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."[3]

On November 5, 2017, he signed the letter submitted by the South Asia Faculty Group (SAFG) to the California State Board of Education[4] where he:

  • Misrepresented scholarship stating "Mythological terms substitute for historical ones for example the 'Indus Valley Civilization' (a fact-based geographic term) appears to be replaced with a religiously-motivated and ideologically charged term 'Indus-Saraswati/Sarasvati Civilization'. The Saraswati is a mythical river"[5][6][7]
  • Implied that Christians and Muslims existed in Ancient India, prior to the founding of these religions ​

In 2016, he signed a letter[8] addressed to the State Board of Education, California Department of Education, dated May 17, 2016 falsely stating[9] the following:

  1. "There is no established connection between Hinduism and the Indus Civilization."
  2. "It is inappropriate to remove mention of the connection of caste to Hinduism."


Publications related to India[edit]

  1. Shankar,S. "Thugs and Bandits: Life and Law under the Colonial and Epicolonial State." Biography 36, no. 1.\
  2. Shankar,S. "Necessity and Desire: Water and Coca Cola in India." In Cultural History and the Global Corporation, edited by Purnima Bose and Laura Lyons, 151-181. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2010.
  3. Shankar,S. "The Thumb of Ekalavya: Postcolonial Studies and the 'Third World' Scholar in a 'First World' Academy." World Literature Today 68, no. 3 (Summer 1994): 479-487. Reprint in Situating College English: Lessons from an American University, edited by Evan Carton and Allan Friedman, 68-79. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey, 1996.
  4. Shankar,S. " Cultural Politics in the South Asian Community in North America." American Journal 25.3 (1999/2000): 151-61.

References[edit]

  1. ↑ S. Shankar University profile, accessed June 6, 2023
  2. ↑ S. Shankar Academia profile, accessed June 6, 2023
  3. ↑ "Letter of Support", Dismantling Global Hindutva Conference website, accessed August 7, 2022
  4. ↑ 2017 South Asia Faculty Group (SAFG) Letter to the California State Board of Education
  5. ↑ Chakrabarti, Dilip, and Sukhdev Saini. The Problem of the Sarasvati River and Notes on the Archaeological Geography of Haryana and Indian Punjab. Aryan Books International, 2009.
  6. ↑ Danino, Michel. The Lost River: On the Trail of the Sarasvati. Penguin Books, 2010.
  7. ↑ McIntosh, Jane R. A Peaceful Realm: The Rise and Fall of the Indus Civilization. Westview Press, 2002, p. 24. ​where she stated "Suddenly it became apparent that the “Indus” Civilization was a misnomer—although the Indus had played a major role in the development of the civilization, the “lost Saraswati” River, judging by the density of settlement along its banks, had contributed an equal or greater part to its prosperity. Many people today refer to this early state as the “Indus-Saraswati Civilization” and continuing references to the “Indus Civilization” should be an abbreviation in which the “Saraswati” is implied. There are some fifty sites known along the Indus whereas the Saraswati has almost 1,000. This is misleading figure because erosion and alluviation has between them destroyed or deeply buried the greater part of settlements in the Indus Valley itself, but there can be no doubt that the Saraswati system did yield a high proportion of the Indus people’s agricultural produce"
  8. ↑ 5-17 Kamala Visweswaran South Asian Faculty Group
  9. ↑ Gupta, S. P. 'The Dawn of Civilization.' In History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization: Volume I: Part 1, edited by G. C. Pandey and D. P. Chattopadhyaya. New Delhi: Centre for Studies in Civilizations, 1999.
Retrieved from "https://hindupedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:S._Shankar&oldid=146676"