132 Indian academicians call for removal of Sheldon Pollock as general editor of Murthy Classical Library

New Delhi: A group of 132 eminent Indian academicians, including many well-known Sanskrit scholars, have expressed strong reservations regarding Columbian University Professor Sheldon Pollock, a scholar of philology presiding over the historical project of Murthy Classical library as the general editor.

The Murty Classical Library of India was established by Rohan Murthy, the son of Infosys co-founder N. R. Narayana Murthy, with an aim to publish modern English translations of classical Indian works present in various Indian languages, including Sanskrit, Bangla, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Pali, Panjabi, Persian, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.

The Library started publishing translations in 2015 and since its inception, Professor Pollock has been serving as its 'general editor'. Professor Pollock is known for his controversial views on Sanskrit language and Indian philosophy.

The petition contends that "While Pollock has been a well-known scholar of philology, it is also well-known that he has deep antipathy towards many of the ideals and values cherished and practiced in our civilization. He echoes the views of Macaulay and Max Weber that the shastras generated in India serve no contemporary purpose except for the study of how Indians express themselves."

The signatories further state in their petition that Professor Pollock is not politically neutral and has been a "prominent signatory of several statements which are of a purely political nature and devoid of any academic merit; those statements have condemned various policies and actions of the Government of India," including two "recent statements released by US academicians condemning the actions of the JNU authorities and the Government of India against separatist groups who are calling for the independence of Kashmir, and for India's breakup."

Calling the Murthy Classical Library as a "historical project", the petitioners have stated that such a project must be "guided and carried out by a team of scholars who not only have proven mastery in the relevant Indian languages, but are also deeply rooted and steeped in the intellectual traditions of India. They also need to be imbued with a sense of respect and empathy for the greatness of Indian civilization."

They have further appealed the Murthy duo to "invite critics of Sheldon Pollock and the approaches being followed in his project, for open and frank discussions."

Here is the full text of the petition:

Removal of Sheldon Pollock as mentor and Chief Editor of Murty Classical Library

Dear Shri Narayana Murthy and Shri Rohan Murthy,

We the undersigned would like to convey our deep appreciation for your good intentions and financial commitment to establish the Murty Classical Library of India, a landmark project to translate 500 volumes of traditional Indian literature into English. We appreciate the motives of making our civilization's great literature available to the modern youth who are educated in English, and who are unfortunately not trained in Indian languages.

However, such a historical project would have to be guided and carried out by a team of scholars who not only have proven mastery in the relevant Indian languages, but are also deeply rooted and steeped in the intellectual traditions of India. They also need to be imbued with a sense of respect and empathy for the greatness of Indian civilization.

We would like to bring to your notice the views of the mentor and Chief Editor of this program, Professor Sheldon Pollock. While Pollock has been a well-known scholar of philology, it is also well-known that he has deep antipathy towards many of the ideals and values cherished and practiced in our civilization. He echoes the views of Macaulay and Max Weber that the shastras generated in India serve no contemporary purpose except for the study of how Indians express themselves. He has forcefully articulated this view in his career, starting with his 1985 paper, "The Theory of Practice and the Practice of Theory in Intellectual Tradition" (Journal of the American Oriental Society). He sees all shastras as flawed because he finds them frozen in Vedic metaphysics, which he considers irrational and a source of social oppression. Even as recently as 2012, he echoed this view at a talk at Heidelberg titled, "What is South Asian Knowledge Good For?"). He said:

"Are there any decision makers, as they refer to themselves, at universities and foundations who would not agree that, in the cognitive sweepstakes of human history, Western knowledge has won and South Asian knowledge has lost? …That, accordingly, the South Asian knowledge South Asians themselves have produced can no longer be held to have any significant consequences for the future of the human species?"

Therefore, we are dismayed that Pollock has been appointed the Chief Editor and mentor of the entire program.

In his recent book, "The Battle for Sanskrit", Shri Rajiv Malhotra has articulated that many of the writings of Pollock are deeply flawed and misrepresent our cultural heritage.

Furthermore, Pollock does not claim to be politically neutral. In recent years, Pollock has been a prominent signatory of several statements which are of a purely political nature and devoid of any academic merit; those statements have condemned various policies and actions of the Government of India. He has shown utter indifference and disrespect for democratic values and even the international norms of non-interference in the internal functioning of constitutional representative institutions in other countries.

In addition, we now find that Pollock is a prominent signatory of two recent statements released by US academicians condemning the actions of the JNU authorities and the Government of India against separatist groups who are calling for the independence of Kashmir, and for India's breakup.

"काश्मीर की आजादी तक जंग रहेगी, भारत की बरबादी तक जंग रहेगी, भारत तेरे टुकडे होङ्गे,

इनशा अल्लाह इनशा अल्लाह".

"The fight will continue till Kashmir is freed; The fight will continue till India is destroyed; O India, you are going to get shattered by the will of Allah."

Beside these slogans, the disgruntled youth also went on to condemn the highest court of India by way of hoarding posters and banners describing the action of court as "judicial killing" of a terrorist.

To add fuel to the fire, Pollock by way of signing petitions has demanded that the Government of India should end its "authoritative menace". However, we do not find him petitioning against his own USA government's authoritative policies within its borders and around the world.

Thus, it is crystal clear that Pollock has shown disrespect for the unity and integrity of India. We submit that such an individual cannot be considered objective and neutral enough to be in charge of your historic translation project.

We petition you to reconstitute the editorial group of your project with the following ideals in mind:

There must be a fair representation of the lineages and traditional groups that teach and practice the traditions described in the texts being translated. This would ensure that the sentiments and understanding of the millions of Indians who practice these traditions are not violated.
The project must be part of the "Make in India" ethos and not outsourced wholesale to American Ivy Leagues. Just as your visionary role in Infosys showed the world that Indians can be the top producers of IT, so also we urge you to champion the development of Swadeshi Indology. This would entail developing an entire ecosystem of India-based research, translations, journals and conferences. These would be run by leading Indian academicians as well as traditional practitioners.
There must be a written set of standards and policies for the entire project, pertaining to the translation methodologies, historical assumptions and philosophical interpretations that would be used consistently in all volumes.

For example:

How will certain Sanskrit words that are non-translatable be treated?
What will be the posture adopted towards the "Foreign Aryan Theory" and other such controversial theories including chronologies?
What will be assumed concerning the links between ancient texts and present-day social and political problems?
Will the theoretical methods developed in Europe in the context of the history of ancient Europe, be used to interpret Indian texts, or will there first be open discussions with Indians on the use of Indian systems of interpretations?

We urge you to invite critics of Sheldon Pollock and the approaches being followed in his project, for open and frank discussions. We are convinced that this would lead to a dramatic improvement in your project and also avoid any adverse outcome.

Scholars and Intellectuals

Prof. K. Ramasubramanian, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay.
Prof. Ramesh C. Bhardwaj , Professor and Head, Department of Sanskrit, Delhi University
Dr. Kapil Kapoor , Former Pro Vice Chancellor, JNU, New Delhi.
Dr. Girish Nath Jha, Professor of Computational Linguistics and Chairperson, Special Center for Sanskrit Studies, JNU, New Delhi. Professor & Concurrent Faculty, Center for Linguistics, School of Language Literature & Culture Studies, JNU, New Delhi.
Prof. V. Kutumba Sastry, President, International Association of Sanskrit Studies, Former Vice Chancellor, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi
Dr. C. Upender Rao, Professor and Chairperson, Special centre for Sanskrit Studies, JNU, New Delhi.
Prof. Madhu Kishwar, Senior Fellow, CSDS, New Delhi
Prof. R. Vaidyanathan, IIM Bangalore, Finance & Control UTI Chair Professor
Shri N. Gopalaswami, Former Chief Election Commisioner of India, Head of the HRD ministry's committee on Sanskrit Promotion, Chairman, Kalakshetra, Chennai
Prof. Ramesh Kumar Pandey, Vice Chancellor, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, New Delhi.
Swami Madhavpriyadas, Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul Vishwavidya Pratishthanan, Ahmedabad
Dr. K. S. Kannan, Professor, Jain University, Bangalore.
Sri Ramanuja Devanathan , Former Vice Chancellor, Sri Jagadguru Ramananda Rajasthan Sanskrit University, Jaipur
Prof. Shrinivasa Varakhedi, Professor and Dean, Karnataka Sanskrit Univerity
Prof. K. E. Devanathan, Vice Chancellor, S. V. Vedic University, Tirupati
Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao, Secretary, Madras Music Academy, Chennai.
Dr. Sampadananda Mishra, Director, Sri Aurobindo Foundation for Indian Culture, Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry.
Smt. Meera H. R., Research Scholar, NIAS, Bangalore.
Prof. Shashi Tiwari, General Secretary, Wider Assiciation for Vedic Studies (WAVES).
Prof. Amba Kulkarni, Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced study.
Dr. Bal Ram Singh, Professor and President, Institute of Advanced Sciences, Dartmouth, MA., Ex-Professor, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Prof. Malhar Kulkarni, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay.
Shri Mitesh Katira, Sanskrit Bharati, Mumbai
Dr. Baldevanand Sagar, Ex. Sanskrit-news-broadcaster,AIR-DD. New Delhi, General Secretary, Bharatiya Sanskrit Journalists Association.
Prof. K. S. Sateesha, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, New Delhi.
Dr. Sudarshan, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, New Delhi.
Dr. P Ramanujam, CDAC, Bangalore
Dr. K. Mahesh, Post Doctoral Fellow, IIT Bombay
Dr. K. Venkatesha Moorthy, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi
Dr. Ratnamohan Jha, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi
Prof. T.P.R Nambudiri, Principal, Madras Sanskrit College
Prof. Viroopaksha Jaddipal, Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Tirupathi
Prof. Rajaram Shukla, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
Prof. Deviprasad Tripathi, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, New Delhi.
Prof. Hareram Tripathi, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, New Delhi.
Prof. K.P. Paroha, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, New Delhi.
Prof. MA Lakshmithathachar, Chairman, Centre for literary Research, Indian Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine (IIAIM), Dean, Ramanuja Vishwa Vidyapeetam, Melkote, Karnataka
Prof. MA Alwar, Karnatak Samskrit University, Mysore
Dr. Vinaya Chandra, Research Fellow, Development Foundation, Bangalore
Dr. Anuradha Chaudhury, Research Fellow, Development Foundation, Bangalore
Dr. Arathi V, Director, Vibhu Academy, Bangalore
Dr. Ramachandra G Bhat, Vice Chancellor, SVYASA University
Dr. Tilak M Rao, Assistant Director, Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthanam
Dr. Mahabaleshwara S Bhat, Principal, Veda Vigyana Gurukulam, Bangalore
Prof. Pramod, Amrita University, Coimbatore
Dr Kameshwari, Director, Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, Chennai
Dr KS Balasubramanian, Deputy Director, Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, Chennai
Dr TV Vasudeva, Deputy Director, Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, Chennai
Dr Sita Sundar Ram, Research Fellow, Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, Chennai
Prof Parthasarathy, Hon Professor, Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, Chennai
Dr. Sudarshan Chiplunkar, Lecturer, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Mumbai
Dr. Gayatri Muralikrishna, Asst. Professor, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Delhi
Dr. Seetharama, Asst. Professor, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Mumbai
Dr. Sridhara Bhat, Professor, HoD, SDM College Ujire, (Mangaluru University), Karnataka.
Dr. V.Yamuna Devi, Research Assistant, K.S.R.Institute
Dr. V.Premalatha, Research scholar, K.S.R.Institute
Dr. Binod Singh Ajatshatru, Associate Professor of Indian Studies, Peking University (Ex), Director, The BRICS Institute, New Delhi
Dr. J.S.R. Prasad, Professor&Head, Dept. of Sanskrit Studies, University of Hyderabad
Dr. Ram Nath Jha, Associate Professor, Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, JNU, New Delhi
Shri Mahamahopadhyaya Krishnamurthi Sastri, Retd. Principal, Madras Sanskrit College
Shri GSR Krishnamurthy, Registrar, S V Vedic University, Tirupati
Dr. Rajnish Mishra, Associate Professor, Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, JNU, New Delhi
Prof. V. N. Jha, Former Director, Center for Advanced Study in Sanskrit, Universit of Pune
Shri Arjunkumar K. Samal, Principal, Darshanam Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya, Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul Vishwavidya Pratishthanan, Ahmedabad
Shri Basu Ghosh Das, President, ISKCON, Vadodara, Vice chairman, ISKCON India Governing Bureau
Shri Lila Purushottam Das, Principal, Bhaktivedanta Gurukula, Vrindavan, Professor, Department of Electrical Enginneering, IIT Kanpur
Prof. Bharat Gupt, Former Associate Professor, College of Vocational Studies, Delhi University.
Prof. Rudrapatna Shyamasundar, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay.
Prof. Kannan Moudgalya, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay.
Prof. Sivakumar, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay.
Prof. Shripad Garge, Department of Mathematics, IIT Bombay
Prof. Arunkumar Sridharan, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay
Prof. Varadraj Bapat, School of Management, IIT Bombay
Prof. Shireesh Kedare, Department of Energy Sciences, IIT Bombay
Prof. Saketh Nath, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay.
Dr. Kuntimaddi Sadananda, Material Scientist, Former Head of Deformation and Fraction section of the US Naval Research Lab, Acharya of Chinmaya Mission, Washington Regional Center.
Prof. Rakesh Mathpal, Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIT Kanpur.
Prof. Ganesh Ramakrishnan, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay.
Prof Karthik Raman, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras
Prof. Neeraj Kumbhakarna, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay
Prof. Ashish Pandey, School of Management, IIT Bombay.
Dr. T. S. Mohan, Director, Pragyan Datalabs, Bangalore
Prof. Devendra Jalihal, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras
Prof. Karmalkar, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras
Prof. Ashwin Gumaste, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay
Dr. Deepika Kothari, Founder Vishuddhi Films
Dr. Ranjan Ghosh, Lecturer, Department of Economics, SLU Uppsala, Sweden
Prof. Balaji Jayaraman, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Oklahoma State University
Prof. M. S. Sriram, Dept of Theoretical Physics, Univ. of Madras
Prof. Anil Kumar Gaurishetty, Dept of Physics, IIT Roorkee
Prof. Kavi Arya, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay
Prof. Sanjay Chitnis, CMR Institute of Technology, Bangalore
Prof. K Gopinath, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Prof. Muralikrishna, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Prof. Arun Agrahara, Rajeev Institute of Technology, Hassan
Prof. B Mahadevan, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore
Prof. TV Prabhakar, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
Dr. Samir Kagalkar, Director, eMBArkers, Fellow of IIM Bangalore
Prof. S. Krishnan, Dept. of Mathematics, IIT Bombay
Prof. N. Narayanan, Dept. of Mathematics, IIT Madras
Prof. Murali Krishna, Dept. of Computer Science & Automation, IISc, Bangalore
Prof. Amartya Kumar Dutta, Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta
Prof. M.D. Srinivas, Chairman, Centre for Policy Studies, Chennai
Dr. Paresh Joshi, Academic Program coordinator, Junior Science Olympiad, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education and also Vice-President (ASIA) of International Junior Science Olympiad.
Dr. Anand Bulusu, Dept. of Electronics and Communication Engineering, IIT Roorkee
Dr. Ram Manohar Singh, Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Roorkee
Prof. Makarand Paranjpe, Dept of English, JNU, New Delhi
Prof. S. M. Deshpande, Senior Research Fellow, JNCASR, Bangalore, Former Professor, Department Aerospace Engineering, IISc Bangalore
Prof. Srikanth Vedantam, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras
Prof. Sunil Kumar, Director, Multimedia & Wireless Networks Research Group, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, San Diego State University, CA, USA
Prof. Krishna Shankaranarayanan, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay
Prof. Sachin Shinde, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kanpur
Prof. Umesh Sharma, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia
Prof. Mohan Yellishetty, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia
Prof. Kunal Mukherjee, Department of Methamatics, IIT Madras
Prof. Himanshu Pota, School of Engineering and Information Technology, University of New South Wales, Australia
Dr. Raghbendra Jha, Professor and Head, Arndt-Corden Department of Economics, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University
Prof. Krithivasan Ramamritham, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and Head CUSE, IIT Bombay
Prof. Prasanna Gandhi, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay
Dr. Nagesh Bhandari, President, Indus University, Ahmedabad
Dr. Rakesh Bhandari, Director, Indus Institute of Special Studies, Indus University, Ahmedabad
Shri. Shankar Sharan, Associate Professor, NCERT
Prof. Shekhar Babu, Amrita School of Business, Amrita University, Bangalore
Prof. Sudharshan, Amrita University, Bangalore
Dr. Bharati Karnik, Professor, Dept. of English, M.L.B. Govt. College of Excellence, Gwalior
Dr. Amresh Shrivastava, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Western University, Canada
Dr. S. B. Sharma, Executive President, Indus University, Ahmedabad, Former Deputy Director, Antenna Systems Area, ISRO
Shri G. Anil Kumar, Writer, Journalist, Editor-in-Chief of Karmaveera
Prof. Ritendra Sharma, Centre for Indic Studies, Indus University, Ahmedabad
Prof. Harshit Jain, Centre for Indic Studies, Indus University, Ahmedabad
Prof. SG Rakesh, Amrita University, Bangalore
Shri CSR Prabhu, Former Director General of NIC,Govt of India