NEW DELHI, INDIA, December 25, 2005: HPI Note: The following story appears in The Pioneer, which publishes from Delhi and Lucknow. Most of the article is, as indicated by the title, a personal attack upon Harvard Professor Michael Witzel and apparently based in part on the preceding article by Dr. Kalyanaraman.
The article by Kanchan Gupta begins:
“Boorish comments denigrating India, Hindus and Hinduism by a self-proclaimed ‘Indologist’ who is on the faculty of Harvard University has unleashed a fierce debate over the increasing political activism of ‘scholars’ who teach at this prestigious American university.
“Prof Michael Witzel, Wales professor of Sanskrit at Harvard, is in the centre of the storm because he tried to prevent the removal of references to India, Hinduism and Sikhism in the curriculum followed by schools in California which parents of Indian origin found to be inadequate, inaccurate or just outright insensitive.
Known for aggressively pushing theories forged by Left historians of the Romila Thapar genre that have been long discredited through scientific means, including DNA studies, this ‘linguist’ is known for promoting himself as a ‘historian’ in academic circles. His proximity to Left historians in India is no secret.”
Article continues at “source” above.