Letters: Outdated mythologies

This refers to the excerpts from the Third Nikhil Chakravartty Memorial Lecture delivered by Romila Thapar "The narrowing of the liberal space is upon us again" (Opinion, November 2). The following sentence in Thapar's lecture needs to be discussed broadly in public: "More specifically, when it comes to religious identities and their politics, we witness hate campaigns based on absurd fantasies about specific religions and we no longer question these frontally". What is worrying is that the young people who have not studied the Hindu mythologies carefully have started accepting them to be true. These mythologies are now accepted in textbooks in states like Gujarat. If anyone questions these blind beliefs then that person is considered an anti-Hindu and labelled anti-Indian from the Moditva people.

The social media, which is dominated by these fanatic, has already spread the venom of hatred against anyone questioning the relevance of mythologies in today's world. Vedic Mathematics, which has no real relevance, is now treated as an important book in this century. All of this has created fertile ground for fascism. Narendra Modi's government will find it increasingly difficult to protect those who are following a rational path of questioning outdated mythologies.

Chandrashekhar Ranade Washington DC

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