14 "Presenting" the Past
As Barrington Moore Jr. points out, neutrality is, after all, an impossibil-
ity, because any simple straightforward "truth" about political institutions
or events is bound to damage some group interests. Defining objectivity as
"the willingness to find oneself wrong," Moore recommends, "For all stu-
dents of human society, sympathy with the victims of historical processes
and skepticism about the victors' claims provide essential safeguards
against being taken in by the dominant mythology. A scholar who tries
to be objective needs those feelings as part of his ordinary equipment."^23
This book is better viewed as an exercise in critical history writing, an
attempt to resist Eurocentric discourses and practices and to refuse to be
a victim or bystander or perpetrator in the Hindutva program of hateful
and violent communal nationalism.
NOTES
- For a story of the RSS's 60 years, see RSS: Spearheading National Renaissance
(Bangalore: Prakashan Vibhag, 1985). For a descriptive account of the origin,
growth, and spread of the RSS, see H. V. Seshadri, ed., RSS: A Vision in Action (Ban-
galore: Jagarana Prakashana, 1988). Praises of various writers are compiled in How
Others Look at the RSS (New Delhi: Deendayal Research Institute, 1989). Another
compilation of articles "to clear the cobweb of misunderstanding and to project
a clear picture of the awakened Hindu mind" is done by H. V. Seshadri, The Way
(New Delhi: Suruchi Prakashan, 1991). The works that criticize the RSS and other
Sangh Parivar outfits are discussed in other places throughout the book. - Romila Thapar, "Syndicated Moksha?" Seminar, no. 313 (September 1985),
p. 22. - Prabhat Patnaik, "The Fascism of Our Times," Social Scientist 21, nos. 3-4
(March-April 1993), pp. 69-77. For more discussion on Fascism and Hindutva, see
Sumit Sarkar, "The Fascism of the Sangh Parivar," Economic and Political Weekly 28,
no. 5 (30 January 1993); Manini Chatterjee, "Seeds of Fascism," Seminar, no. 399
(November 1992); Indias Saffron Surge: Renaissance or Fascism? A Collection of Politi-
cal Writings (Bombay: Bharatiya Janwadi Aghadi, 1993); C. Rajeswara Rao, "RSS-
Janasangh—Spearhead of JP's Counterrevolution," in Parties of Right-Reaction, ed.
C. Rajeswara Rao et al. (New Delhi: Communist Party of India, 1975); and K. L.
Mahendra, Defeat the RSS Fascist Designs (New Delhi: Communist Party of India,
1973). For a broader discussion on Fascism with an eye on the Hindu philosophy,
see M.N. Roy, Fascism: Its Philosophy, Professions, and Practice (Calcutta: Jijnasa,
1976). Discussing the Indian situation, Aijaz Ahmad contends that one could learn
more from studying the Fascist experience of a semi-industrialized country such
as Italy of the 1920s than from the Nazi experience of the fully industrialized Ger-
many. See Ahmad, "Fascism and National Culture: Reading Gramsci in the Days
of Hindutva," Social Scientist 21, nos. 3-4 (March-April 1993), pp. 32-68. - V.M. Tarkunde, "Hindu Communalism: Is It the Beginning of Fascism?"
Secularist, July-August 1991, pp. 81-83, 93. - Abida Sami Uddin, "Are We Heading towards Fascism," Radical Humanist
57, no. 1 (April 1993), pp. 45-48.