Sita Ram Goel: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{shortShort description|Indian activist, writer and publisher (1921–2003)}}

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{{infoboxInfobox writer

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| birth_place = [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab Province]], [[British India]]

| death_date = {{death date and age |2003|12|03 |1921|10|16 |df=yes}}

| occupation = {{hlist|Historian|Writer|publisher}}

| alma_mater = [[University of Delhi]]

| period = Late 20th century

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'''Sita Ram Goel''' (16 October 1921 – 3 December 2003) was an Indian historian, religious and political activist, writer, and publisher known for his influential contributions to literature pertaining to [[Hinduism]] and [[Hindu nationalism]] in the late twentieth century. His work has been both celebrated and criticised for its bias towards Hindu nationalism and its controversial portrayal of other religions, particularly Islam and Christianity.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-16 |title=Sita Ram Goel: The man who exposed Nehruvian fallacies and won our hearts with his mind |url=https://www.firstpost.com/india/sita-ram-goel-the-man-who-exposed-nehruvian-fallacies-and-won-our-hearts-with-his-mind-10060681.html |access-date=2023-10-02 |website=Firstpost |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=For the RSS, Denouncing and Appropriating Ambedkar Go Hand in Hand |url=https://thewire.in/politics/ambedkar-appropriating-rss-bjp |access-date=2023-10-02 |website=The Wire}}</ref>

'''Sita Ram Goel''' (16 October 1921 – 3 December 2003) was an Indian historian, religious and political activist, writer, and publisher in the late twentieth century. He had [[Marxist]] leanings during the 1940s,<ref>Sita Ram Goel, How I became a Hindu, Published By Voice of India, New Delhi, India</ref> but later became an outspoken [[anti-communist]] and also wrote extensively on the damage to Indian culture and heritage wrought by expansionist [[Islam]] and missionary activities of Christianity. In his later career he emerged as a commentator on [[Indian politics]], and adhered to [[Hindu nationalism]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Hindu nationalist movement and Indian politics: 1925 to the 1990s |first=Christophe |last=Jaffrelot |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. |year=1996 |isbn=978-1-85065-301-1 |pages=342–343 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uywnx2IHH8cC |access-date=23 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter=Tolerance and Hierarchy: Accommodating Multiple Religious Paths in Hinduism |first=Richard H. |last=Davis |pages=361–362 |title=Religious Tolerance in World Religions |editor1-first=Jacob |editor1-last=Neusner |editor2-first=Bruce |editor2-last=Chilton |edition=2nd |publisher=Templeton Foundation Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-59947-136-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z_695Vfox-0C |access-date=23 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter=The Indian Church: Catholicism and Indian Nationhood |first=Mathew N. |last=Schmalz |title=The Catholic Church and the nation-state: comparative perspectives |editor1-first=Paul Christopher |editor1-last=Manuel |editor2-first=Lawrence Christopher |editor2-last=Reardon |editor3-first=Clyde |editor3-last=Wilcox |publisher=Georgetown University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-58901-115-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-8gqfwcbTaAC |page=217 |access-date=23 January 2012}}</ref>

In his later career, Goel transitioned into a role as a commentator on Indian politics, aligning himself openly with Hindu nationalism, a stance that has generated significant debate and scrutiny among scholars and observers of Indian society and politics.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Tolerance and Hierarchy: Accommodating Multiple Religious Paths in Hinduism |first=Richard H. |last=Davis |pages=361–362 |title=Religious Tolerance in World Religions |editor1-first=Jacob |editor1-last=Neusner |editor2-first=Bruce |editor2-last=Chilton |edition=2nd |publisher=Templeton Foundation Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-59947-136-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z_695Vfox-0C |access-date=23 January 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter=The Indian Church: Catholicism and Indian Nationhood |first=Mathew N. |last=Schmalz |title=The Catholic Church and the nation-state: comparative perspectives |editor1-first=Paul Christopher |editor1-last=Manuel |editor2-first=Lawrence Christopher |editor2-last=Reardon |editor3-first=Clyde |editor3-last=Wilcox |publisher=Georgetown University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-58901-115-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-8gqfwcbTaAC |page=217 |access-date=23 January 2012}}</ref>

==Life==

===Early life===

Sita Ram Goel was born to a Hindu family in [[Punjab]], in 1921; though his childhood was spent in [[Calcutta]]. The family looked upon [[Garib Das|Sri GaribdasGarib Das]], a [[nirguna]] saint comparable to [[Kabir]] and [[Nanak]], as its patron saint and his verses, "Granth Saheb",<ref>This is a separate collection of hymns by Garibdas and a few other [[Bhakti]] saints. Not to be confused with holy-book of The [[Sikhs]]</ref> were often recited at their home.<ref name="HIBAH 1">Goel, Sita Ram, [http://voiceofdharma.com/books/hibh/ch1.htm "How I became a Hindu"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184355/http://voiceofdharma.com/books/hibh/ch1.htm |date=30 September 2007 }}, Chapter 1</ref>

Goel graduated in history from the [[University of Delhi]] in 1944. As a student, he was a social activist and worked for a [[Harijan]] Ashram in his village. His sympathies for the [[Arya Samaj]], the Harijans and the [[Indian freedom movement]], along with his strong support for [[Mahatma Gandhi]], brought him into conflict with many people in his village;<ref name = "HIBAH 2">Goel, Sita Ram, [http://voiceofdharma.com/books/hibh/ch2.htm "How I became a Hindu"], Chapter 2</ref> Goel also learned to speak and write [[Sanskrit]] during these college days.<ref name = "HIBAH 3">Goel, Sita Ram, [http://voiceofdharma.com/books/hibh/ch3.htm "How I became a Hindu"], Chapter 3</ref>

===Direct Action Day===

On 16 August 1946, during the [[Direct Action Day]] riots in Calcutta that were instigated by the [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] shortly before [[Partition of India]], Goel, his wife and their eldest son narrowly escaped with their lives. In his autobiography, ''[[How I became a Hindu]]'', Goel writes that he "would have been killed by a Muslim mob" but his fluent [[Urdu]] and his Western dress saved him. He further relates, that the next evening they "had to vacate that house and scale a wall at the back to escape murderous Muslim mobs advancing with firearms."<ref name = "HIBAH 4">Goel, Sita Ram, [http://voiceofdharma.com/books/hibh/ch4.htm "How I became a Hindu"], Chapter 4</ref> He subsequently wrote and circulated a lengthy article on the riots, titled "The Devil Dance in Calcutta", in which he held Hindus and Muslims equally responsible for the tragedy.<ref name = "HIBAH 5">Goel, Sita Ram, [http://voiceofdharma.com/books/hibh/ch4.htm "How I became a Hindu"], Chapter 5</ref> His friend [[Ram Swarup]], however, criticised him for equating Muslim violence with Hindu violence, claiming that Muslim violence was "aggressive and committed in the furtherance of a very reactionary and retrograde cause, namely the vivisection of India".<ref name = "HIBAH 5"/>

===Communism to anti-communism===

In mid-1940s Goel met members of the CSP ([[Congress Socialist Party]]), translated writings by [[Narendra Deva]] and [[Jayaprakash Narayan]] into English, and was offered a position as an editor of a CSP publication. But his first editorial for the weekly was deemed to be pro-communist, and he had to stop writing for the weekly.<ref name = "HIBAH 4"/>

Sita Ram Goel had developed a strong [[Marxism|Marxist]] leaning during his student days and was on the verge of joining the [[Communist Party of India]] in 1948. The Communist Party, however, was banned in [[Bengal]] on the day he planned to officially become its member. He read [[Karl Marx]]'s [[Communist Manifesto]] and [[Das Kapital]], [[Harold Laski]]'s "Communism", and "came to the conclusion that while Marx stood for a harmonised social system, [[Sri Aurobindo]] held the key to a harmonised human personality."<ref name = "HIBAH 3"/> Later, books by [[Aldous Huxley]], [[Victor Kravchenko (defector)|Victor Kravchenko]], and [[Suzanne Labin]] ("Stalin's Russia") convinced him to abandon communism.<ref name = "HIBAH 6">Goel, Sita Ram, [http://voiceofdharma.com/books/hibh/ch6.htm "How I became a Hindu"], Chapter 6</ref> Subsequently, he wrote many books critical of communism in Calcutta, and worked for the anti-communist ''"Society for the Defence of Freedom in Asia"'' (SDFA).<ref name="HIBAH 7">Goel, Sita Ram, [http://voiceofdharma.com/books/hibh/ch1.htm "How I became a Hindu"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184355/http://voiceofdharma.com/books/hibh/ch1.htm |date=30 September 2007 }}, Chapter 7</ref><ref name = "RS">[[Koenraad Elst|Elst, Koenraad]], "Ram Swarup (1920–98): outline of a biography" [http://koenraadelst.voiceofdharma.com/articles/hinduism/ramswarup.html]</ref> According to Goel, when he wanted to apply for a passport in 1955, he was told that his case was receiving attention from the Prime Minister himself, and his application was not granted.<ref>Sita Ram Goel Genesis and Growth of Nehruism (1993)</ref>

==='Nehruism' and censorship===

Goel wrote regularly for the "Organiser" weekly, whose editor [[K. R. Malkani]] was his friend. In 1961–1962 he used the pseudonym Ekaki (solitary) while writing the series ''In Defence of Comrade [[Krishna Menon]]'', critical of [[Indian National Congress]] leader [[Jawaharlal Nehru]].<ref name="HIBAH 9">Goel, Sita Ram, [http://voiceofdharma.com/books/hibh/ch9.htm "How I became a Hindu"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927234102/http://voiceofdharma.com/books/hibh/ch9.htm |date=27 September 2007 }}, Chapter 9</ref> Although the series was widely read and praised, he was later admonished by a leader of the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS) for being too focused on Nehru, and the series was discontinued.<ref name = "HIBAH 9"/><ref>Suzanne Labin said:"I have read your masterpiece, 'In Defense of Comrade Krishna Menon.' It is profound, well-constructed, well argued, an honest, sound and brilliant study." On the dust wrapper of "In Defense of Comrade Krishna Menon"</ref> The collected series was published in December 1963 by Vaidya Gurudatta <ref name = "HIBAH 9"/> and an updated version released as ''Genesis and Growth of Nehruism'' <ref>[http://www.voiceofdharma.com/books/gagon/ GENESIS AND GROWTH OF NEHRUISM]</ref> thirty years later. However Goel's writings about Nehru in the Organiser cost him his job<ref name = "HIBAH 8">Goel, Sita Ram, [http://voiceofdharma.com/books/hibh/ch8.htm "How I became a Hindu"], Chapter 8</ref> and disillusioned him of the RSS.<ref name = "HIBAH 9"/>

According to Goel, he was under surveillance by the Indian government during the 1962 [[Sino-Indian War]]. He was not arrested, even though this was according to him demanded by some government leaders, including future Prime Minister [[I. K. Gujral]].<ref name = "HIBAH 9"/><ref name = "IOC">[[Koenraad Elst|Elst, Koenraad]], "India's only communalist – A short biography of Sita Ram Goel"</ref> In November 1962, he was recruited to participate in a [[guerrilla]] war against communist China, but he refused, saying "that so long as [[Pandit]] Nehru was the Prime Minister of the country, I could be only a traitor to it."<ref name = "HIBAH 9"/>

During the 1980s, Goel worked on a series titled ''Muslim Separatism: Causes and Consequences'', but some passages from his articles were censored by the Organiser.<ref name = "HIBAH 9"/> He discovered that his series was considered too controversial by the RSS leadership who thought that it was alienating Muslims from the party, and Goel had to stop writing for the Organiser after the completion of the series ''Perversion of India's Political Parlance''. [[K.R. Malkani]], who was the editor for the Organiser for three decades, was sacked because of his support for Goel.<ref name = "HIBAH 9"/><ref name = "FOE">Goel, Sita Ram, "Freedom of expression: Secular Theocracy Versus Liberal Democracy"</ref> Goel also noted that on other occasions that some of his articles, e.g. his article on the [[Vedapuri Iswaran Temple]] controversy, were suppressed in the Indian media.<ref>Goel:How I became a Hindu, History of Hindu-Christian Encounters</ref><ref>Koenraad Elst. BJP vis-a-vis Hindu Resurgence. ch.17</ref>

===Publisher and writer===

Goel founded the publishing house Biblia Impex India (Aditya Prakashan) in 1963, which published books by authors such as [[Dharampal]], Ram Swarup, [[K. D. Sethna]] and [[K.R. Malkani]].<ref name = "IOC"/> Sita Ram Goel joined the non-profit publishing house Voice of India in 1982.<ref>Goel:Freedom of Expression</ref>{{Page needed|date=January 2012}} [[Voice of India]] was founded in 1982 by Ram Swarup,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=4624|title=Letter by Goel to Hinduism Today|author=Himalayan Academy|work=hinduismtoday.com}}</ref> and published works by Harsh Narain, A.K. Chatterjee, [[K.S. Lal]], [[Koenraad Elst]], [[Rajendra Singh (environmentalist)|Rajendra Singh]], Sant R.S. Nirala, and [[Shrikant Talageri]] among others .<ref name = "HIBAH 9"/>

Early versions of several of Goel's books were previously published as a series in periodicals like ''[[Hinduism Today]]'', ''Indian Express'' or the ''Organiser''. Goel speculates that a series of articles he published in [[Indian Express]] in 1989 regarding the destruction of Hindu temples by Muslims may have contributed to the firing of its editor, [[Arun Shourie]], the following year.<ref name = "HIBAH 9"/> In August 1990, while releasing two books published by [[Voice of India]], [[Bharatiya Janta Party]] leader [[L. K. Advani]] chided Goel for using "strong language".<ref name = "HIBAH 9"/>

Goel also worked as a part-time secretary for the ''All India Panchayat Parishad'' whose manager was his friend [[Jayaprakash Narayan]]. Narayan was impressed by Goel's Hindi book ''Samyak Sambuddha'' and said to Goel, "If [[Hinduism|Sanatana Dharma]] is what you say it is, I am all for it. You can count me as a Sanatanist from today. You can say to whomsoever you please that JP has become a Sanatanist."<ref name = "HIBAH 9"/>

Goel was fluent in Hindi, Urdu, [[Bengali language|Bengali]], English and [[Sanskrit]], and read Persian.<ref name="Koenraad Elst 2001">"Koenraad Elst ''Who is a Hindu?'' (2001)</ref>

==Opinions==

===On rewriting of history books===

Goel claimed that there was a systematic distortion of India's history which the Marxist historians of Aligarh and the JNU had undertaken.<ref name="Goel: How I became a Hindu, ch.9">Goel: How I became a Hindu, ch.9</ref> In particular, he claims that the history of medieval India and the Islamic invasions is being rewritten. He described it as an "experiment with Untruth" and an exercise in suppressio veri suggestio falsi.<ref name = "SII"/> According to him, the Ministry of Education has extended this experiment to school-level text-books of history. Goel called it "an insidious attempt at [[thought-control]] and [[brainwashing]]" and argued that the NCERT guidelines are "recommendations for telling lies to our children, or for not telling to them the truth at all."<ref name = "SII"/>

===On Indian secularism===

Goel has criticised [[Indian secularism]], alleging that "this concept of Secularism is a gross perversion of the concept which arose in the modern West as a revolt against Christianity and which should mean, in the Indian context, a revolt against Islam as well."<ref name="Goel:How I became a Hindu. ch.9">Goel:How I became a Hindu. ch.9</ref>

===On media bias===

Goel claimed that there is a [[media bias]] in India, in particular with regard to criticism of Islam or people like Nehru. In 1955 Goel asked one of his friends, who was supportive of Nehru and who had published in many international and national journals, to write an article critical of Nehru's policies. But the Indian publications didn't accept his critical article, and he claims that his standing as a scholar in India suffered thereby.<ref name="Goel:How I became a Hindu. ch.9"/>

Goel described an incident during a seminar on "Hurdles To Secularism" in 1963 which Goel attended, and which was presided over by [[Jayaprakash Narayan]]. As Goel tells it, most participants in the seminar criticised only "Hindu communalism." But when one Muslim speaker took up the issue of Muslim communalism, he was shouted down by the other Muslims of the seminar, and had to stop talking.<ref>Goel:Defence of Hindu Society. ch.9</ref>

===On Indian nationalist organisations===

Goel criticised Hindu nationalist organisations like the RSS. He claimed that with few exceptions they "shared the Nehruvian consensus on all important issues", and that "the RSS and the BJS stalwarts spent almost all their time and energy in proving that they were not Hindu communalists but honest secularists." He also claimed that RSS members are worried almost only about the reputation of their organisation and their leaders, and are rather ignorant to Hindu causes.<ref name="Goel: How I became a Hindu, ch.9"/> When a [[Bharatiya Jana Sangh]] (BJS) leader asked him to write a book about the BJS, Goel replied that his book "would be pretty critical on the score of their policies."<ref name="Goel: How I became a Hindu, ch.9"/>

Goel edited the book "Time for Stock-Taking", a collection of papers critical of the RSS.<ref>[http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/articles/politics/bogey.html Hinduism, Environmentalism and the Nazi Bogey], Koenraad Elst ''Who is a Hindu?'' (2001)</ref> According to Belgian writer Koenraad Elst, Ram Swarup and Sita Ram Goel wrote in defence of Hinduism, never of "Hindutva".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/articles/politics/bogey.html|title=Hinduism, Environmentalism and the Nazi Bogey|work=bharatvani.org}}</ref>

===On Christianity===

Goel was outspoken in his criticism of Christianity. He was critical of missionaries' attempts to [[Indigenization|indigenize]] Christianity by adopting aspects of Hinduism, particularly as they have also demonized it, in attempts to gain new followers.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jacobsen|first=Knut A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yNgDEAAAQBAJ&q=%22History+of+Hindu%E2%80%93Christian+Encounters%22+Goel&pg=PA256|title=Routledge Handbook of South Asian Religions|date=2020-11-29|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-429-62206-9|pages=256|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Barua|first=Ankur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iZmsBwAAQBAJ&q=%22History+of+Hindu%E2%80%93Christian+Encounters%22+Goel&pg=PA60|title=Debating 'Conversion' in Hinduism and Christianity|date=2015-03-27|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-53859-2|pages=60|language=en}}</ref> Goel also held the belief that Jesus was the intellectual author behind Western imperialism and [[the Holocaust]], as he was "no more than an artifice for legitimizing wanton imperialist aggression. He does not symbolize spiritual power or moral uprightness."<ref>{{cite book|last=Esteves|first=Sarto|title=Freedom to build, not destroy: attacks on Christians and their institutions|publisher=Media House|year=2002|page=66}}</ref>

He made his case [[Antisemitism and the New Testament|based on the gospels]], which he thought cast too dark a shadow on unconverted Jews (see for instance {{Bibleref2|John|8:38-47||John 8:38-47}}). From there he drew parallels between Jesus and Adolf Hitler, the latter of whom was, in Goel's words, the first to "completely grasp the verdict passed on the Jews by the Jesus of the gospels".<ref name="artifice-for-aggression">{{cite book|author1=Sita Ram Goel|title=Jesus Christ: An Artifice for Aggression|date=1994|author-link1=Sita Ram Goel}}</ref>

Goel also ridiculed what he termed "the cult of the disentangled Christ", whereby Christian revisionism attempts to salvage the figure of Jesus from the atrocious historical outcomes he inspired — and only from the bad ones — as though missionary proselytism and Western expansionism were to be perceived in the separate as mere coincidence.<ref name="artifice-for-aggression" />

He wrote several works on the topic of Christianity and in 1995, sent [[Pat Robertson]] his book ''Jesus Christ: An Artifice for Aggression'', and a letter in protest to Robertson's remarks towards the religion of Hinduism.<ref name="ReferenceA">S.R. Goel:History of Hindu-Christian Encounters, 1996</ref>

Goel received criticism for his works and standpoints on Christianity. Goel specifically responded to related criticism and reaffirm his stance and viewpoints towards Christianity. <ref name="Goel 1994">Preface to Goel's "Catholic Ashrams". 1994.</ref><ref>Catherine Cornille. The Guru in Indian Catholicism: Ambiguity or Opportunity of Inculturation, Louvain, 1990, pp.192–93.</ref>

===On Islam and Muslims===

Goel has criticised the history and doctrines of Islam in some of his writings. His works are also cited by critics of Islam like [[Robert Spencer (author)|Robert Spencer]]<ref>''[[The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion]]'', Regnery Publishing 2006. ''[[The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (And the Crusades)]]'', Regnery Publishing, 2005.</ref> and [[Arun Shourie]].<ref>Eminent Historians: Their Technology, Their Line, Their Fraud. 1998</ref>

Despite his criticism of Islam, he said that he is not opposed "to an understanding and reconciliation between the two communities. All I want to say is that no significant synthesis or assimilation took place in the past, and history should not be distorted and falsified to serve the political purposes of a Hindu-baiting herd."<ref name = "SII">Goel, Sita Ram, The Story of Islamic Imperialism</ref> He argues that the Muslims should evaluate the Islamic history and doctrines in terms of [[rationalism]] and [[humanism]] "without resort to the [[casuistry]] marshalled by the mullahs and sufis, or the apologetics propped up by the [[Aligarh School|Aligarh]] and [[Stalinism|Stalinist]] schools of historians", just as the European Christians did centuries earlier with Christianity.<ref name = "SII"/>

He believed that the "average Muslim is as good or bad a human being as an average Hindu",<ref name = "SII"/> and warned:

:Some people are prone to confuse Islam with its victims, that is, the Muslims, and condemn the latter at the same time as they come to know the crudities of the former. This is a very serious confusion, which should be avoided by all those who believe in building up a broad-based human brotherhood as opposed to narrow, [[sectarian]], self-centred, and chauvinistic nationalism or communalism.<ref name = "SII"/>

===On decline of Buddhism===

Arun Shourie wrote about Goel:

"Marxists cite only two other instances of Hindus having destroyed Buddhist temples. These too it turns out yield to completely contrary explanations. Again Marxists have been asked repeatedly to explain the construction they have been circulating -- to no avail. Equally important, Sita Ram Goel invited them to cite any Hindu text which orders Hindus to break the places of worship of other religions -- as the Bible does, as a pile of Islamic manuals does. He has asked them to name a single person who has been honoured by the Hindus because he broke such places -– the way Islamic historians and lore have glorified every Muslim ruler and invader who did so. A snooty silence has been the only response ".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://haindavakeralam.com/nailing-marxist-lies-hk8783 - Nailing Marxist Lies - Exposing the Myth of Hindu Onslaught on Buddhism|work=haindavakeralam.com}}</ref>

==Literary influences==

He wrote and published books in English and [[Hindi]]. He also translated [[George Orwell]]'s ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]'', three ''Dialogues of Plato'', Denis Kincaid's ''The Great Rebel'' (about [[Shivaji]]) and other books into Hindi.

Goel was well-read in Western and Eastern literature, and among his most favourite writers or works were [[Thomas Hardy]], [[Shakespeare]]'s [[Hamlet]], [[Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay]], [[Aldous Huxley]], [[Plato]], [[Rabindranath Tagore|Tagore]], [[Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay]], [[Vaishnava]] and [[Baul]] poets, the [[Kathamrita]] written by [[Mahendranath Gupta]] (Sri M.) and [[Thomas Gray]]'s poem "Elegy"[http://www.thomasgray.org/cgi-bin/display.cgi?text=elcc].<ref name="Goel: How I became a Hindu">Goel: How I became a Hindu</ref> His favourite book was the Hindu epic [[Mahabharata]], which he would read in its original language Sanskrit.<ref>Goel: How I became a Hindu, ch.1, 8</ref>

Sita Ram Goel was influenced by Indian writer and philosopher [[Ram Swarup]]. He said that his masters have been "[[Vyasa]], [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] and [[Sri Aurobindo]], as elucidated by Ram Swarup."<ref name = "Interview">[http://sitaramgoel.voiceofdharma.com/interview.html Interview in The Observer, February 22, 1997]</ref> He was also influenced by [[Bal Gangadhar Tilak]], [[Dayananda Sarasvati]] and [[Mahatma Gandhi]].<ref name="Goel: How I became a Hindu"/>

==Banned books==

===''Understanding Islam through Hadis''===

{{further|Understanding Islam through Hadis}}

In 1983, Goel reprinted [[Ram Swarup]]'s ''Understanding Islam through Hadis''. The book was a summary of the [[Sahih Muslim]] Hadith and consisted of extracts from the Hadiths. In 1987, he again reprinted the book, but the copies of a Hindi translation were seized by the police and Goel was arrested briefly.<ref name="Theocracy Versus Liberal Democracy 1998">Freedom of expression – Secular Theocracy Versus Liberal Democracy (1998, edited by Sita Ram Goel) {{ISBN|81-85990-55-7}}</ref>

In due course, some Muslims and the [[Jamaat-e-Islami Hind|Jamaat-e-Islami]] weekly ''Radiance'' claimed that the book was offensive. In 1990, the Hindi translation of the book was banned. In March 1991, the English original was banned as well. The "criminal case" against Goel for printing the book was dismissed after some years on 5 May 1997, but the book still remains banned.<ref name="Theocracy Versus Liberal Democracy 1998"/>

Goel graduated in history from the [[University of Delhi]] in 1944. As a student, he was a social activist and worked for a [[Harijan]] Ashram in his village. His sympathies for the [[Arya Samaj]], the Harijans and the [[Indian freedom movement]], along with his strong support for [[Mahatma Gandhi]], brought him into conflict with many people in his village;<ref name = "HIBAH 2">Goel, Sita Ram, [http://voiceofdharma.com/books/hibh/ch2.htm "How I became a Hindu"], Chapter 2</ref> Goel also learned to speak and write [[Sanskrit]] during his college days.<ref name = "HIBAH 3">Goel, Sita Ram, [http://voiceofdharma.com/books/hibh/ch3.htm "How I became a Hindu"], Chapter 3</ref>

Indian intellectuals protested against the arrest of Goel.<ref name="Theocracy Versus Liberal Democracy 1998"/> [[Arun Shourie]] commented on the criminal case:

==Works==

:No one has ever refuted him on facts, but many have sought to smear him and his writing. They have thereby transmuted the work from mere scholarship into warning. (...)The forfeiture is exactly the sort of thing which had landed us where we are: where intellectual inquiry is shut out; where our traditions are not examined, and reassessed; and where as a consequence there is no dialogue. It is exactly the sort of thing too which foments reaction. (...)"Freedom of expression which is legitimate and constitutionally protected," it [the Supreme Court] declared last year, "cannot be held to ransom by an intolerant group or people."<ref>Fomenting Reaction by Arun Shourie. 8 November 1990. Freedom of expression – Secular Theocracy Versus Liberal Democracy (1998, edited by Sita Ram Goel) {{ISBN|81-85990-55-7}}</ref>

===''Hindu View of Christianity and Islam (1993)''===

In 1993 the MP [[Syed Shahabuddin]], who in 1988 asked for the ban on ''[[The Satanic Verses]]'',<ref>Shahabuddin, Syed. "You did this with satanic forethought, Mr. Rushdie." Times of India. 13 October 1988.</ref> demanded a ban on [[Ram Swarup|Ram Swarup's]] book ''[[Hindu View of Christianity and Islam]]''.<ref>In Syed Shahabuddin's letter to [[P.M. Sayeed]], Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs on 20 August 1993. Sita Ram Goel:The Calcutta Quran Petition., Chapter 1.</ref> Goel and Swarup went into hiding because they feared that they could get arrested. The court accepted a bail and the authors came out of hiding.<ref name="ReferenceB">S.R. Goel, ed.: Freedom of Expression, 1998</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">K. Elst: "Banning Hindu Revaluation", Observer of Business and Politics, 1 December 1993</ref> [[Arun Shourie]] and K. S. Lal protested against the ban.<ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref name="ReferenceC"/>

===Colin Maine's ''The Dead Hand of Islam''===

In 1986, Goel reprinted Colin Maine's essay ''The Dead Hand of Islam'' [http://www.atheists.org/Islam/deadhand.html]. Some Muslims filed a criminal case against Goel, alleging that it violated Sections 153A and 295A of the Indian Penal Code and similar articles of the Indian Customs Act.

The judge discharged Goel and referred to the earlier court precedent "1983 CrLJ 1446". Speaking of the importance of that precedent, the judge in his discussion said: "If such a contention is accepted a day will come when that part of history which is unpalatable to a particular religion will have to be kept in cold storage on the pretext that the publication of such history would constitute an offence punishable under Sec. 153A of the Penal Code. The scope of S-153A cannot be enlarged to such an extent with a view to thwart history. (...) Otherwise, the position will be very precarious. A nation will have to forget its own history and in due course the nation will have no history at all. (...) If anybody intends to extinguish the history (by prohibiting its publication) of the nation on the pretext of taking action under the above sections, his act will have to be treated as malafide one."<ref name="Theocracy Versus Liberal Democracy 1998">Freedom of expression – Secular Theocracy Versus Liberal Democracy (1998, edited by Sita Ram Goel) {{ISBN|81-85990-55-7}}</ref>

===''The Calcutta Quran Petition''===

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===''Hindu Temples – What Happened to Them''===

There were proposals in November 1990 in [[Uttar Pradesh]] to ban Goel's book ''[[Hindu Temples - What Happened to Them]]''.<ref>[{{Cite web|url=http://koenraadelst.voiceofdharma.com/books/ayodhya/ch12.htm Elst 1991] {{webarchive |urlarchiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927233935/http://koenraadelst.voiceofdharma.com/books/ayodhya/ch12.htm|url-status=dead|title=Elst 1991|datearchivedate=27 September 2007 }}</ref>

==Legacy==

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==Books and booklets==

<!-- sorted chronologically-->

===English===

'''Author'''

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* ''Netaji and the CPI'', Calcutta: Society for Defence of Freedom in Asia, 1955, 72 p.

* ''In defence of Comrade Krishna Menon : a political biography of Pandit Nehru'', New Delhi: Bharati Sahitya Sadan, 1963, 272 p. <small>A reprint with changes would appear in 1993 as the Volume I of ''Genesis and growth of Nehruism''.</small>

* ''Hindu society under siege'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1981, 48 p. <small>A revised edition released in 1994.</small> <ref>{{cite web | url=http://voiceofdharma.org/books/hsus/index.htm | title=Hindu Society Under Siege }}</ref>

* ''How I Became a Hindu'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1982, 67 p. <small>A third enlarged edition would appear in 1993, 106 p.</small> <ref>{{cite web | url=http://voiceofdharma.org/books/hibh/ | title=How I Became Hindu}}</ref>

* ''The Story of Islamic Imperialism in India'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1982, 126 p. <small>A second enlarged edition would appear in 1994, 138 p.</small>

* ''Defence of Hindu Society'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1983, 96 p. <small>A second edition would appear in 1987 and a third enlarged one in 1994, 118 p.</small>

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* [[George Orwell]]'s ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]''

* ''Shaktiputra [[Shivaji]]'', [[Denis Kincaid]]'s ''The Grand Rebel''

* ''Panchjanya'', [[Taslima Nasrin]]'s ''[[Lajja (novel)|Lajja]]''

==Further reading==

* India's only communalist: In commemoration of Sita Ram Goel; Edited by Koenraad Elst; Voice of India, New Delhi. (2005) {{ISBN|81-85990-78-6}} (With contributions by [[Subhash Kak]], [[David Frawley]], [[Lokesh Chandra]], [[Shrikant Talageri]], Vishal Agarwal, [[N.S. Rajaram]] and others.) [http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=109&page=25]

* Elst, Koenraad. India's Only Communalist: an Introduction to the Work of Sita Ram Goel. In "Hinduism and Secularism: After Ayodhya", Arvind Sharma (ed.) Palgrave 2001 {{ISBN|978-0-333-79406-7}}

==See also==

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* [[Swapan Dasgupta]]

==NotesReferences==

===Citations===

{{reflist|2}}

==References=Sources===

* [http://koenraadelst.voiceofdharma.org/articles/hinduism/sitaramgoel.html India's only communalist – A short biography of Sita Ram Goel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131203553/http://koenraadelst.voiceofdharma.org/articles/hinduism/sitaramgoel.html |date=31 January 2016 }} Koenraad Elst

* Elst, Koenraad, Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society (1991)

* Goel, S.R. Freedom of Expression (1998)

==Further reading==

* India's only communalist: In commemoration of Sita Ram Goel; Edited by Koenraad Elst; Voice of India, New Delhi. (2005) {{ISBN|81-85990-78-6}} (With contributions by [[Subhash Kak]], [[David Frawley]], [[Lokesh Chandra]], [[Shrikant Talageri]], Vishal Agarwal, [[N.S. Rajaram]] and others.) [http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=109&page=25 Contentious issues on religion and temples to be decided by court: BJP President J P Nadda]

* Elst, Koenraad. India's Only Communalist: an Introduction to the Work of Sita Ram Goel. In "Hinduism and Secularism: After Ayodhya", Arvind Sharma (ed.) Palgrave 2001 {{ISBN|978-0-333-79406-7}}

==External links==

* [http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/articles/hinduism/sitaramgoel.html India's only communalist A short biography of Sita Ram Goel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518182632/http://bharatvani.org/ |date=18 May 2011 }} by Koenraad Elst, Leuven (Belgium), 28 May 1999. ([http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/print/articles/fascism/sitaramgoel.pdf pdf])

* [http://bharatvani.org/books.html Many books of Sita Ram Goel online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402133553/http://bharatvani.org/books.html |date=2 April 2012 }}

{{Sita Ram Goel}}

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[[Category:1921 births]]

[[Category:2003 deaths]]

[[Category:CriticsIndian critics of Christianity]]

[[Category:CriticsIndian critics of Islam]]

[[Category:Indian anti-communists]]

[[Category:Indian political writers]]

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[[Category:Indian Hindus]]

[[Category:Islam and politics]]

[[Category:Anti-Christian sentiment in AsiaIndia]]

[[Category:Anti-Islam sentiment in Asia]]

[[Category:Voice of India writers]]

[[Category:Businesspeople from Punjab, India]]

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[[Category:Indian male journalists]]

[[Category:Hindu nationalists]]

[[Category:Anti-Islam sentiment in India]]