Sita Ram Goel (16 October 1921 – 3 December 2003) was an Indian Hindu nationalist writer, and publisher known for his literature pertaining to

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

and

Hindu nationalism Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of political thought, based on the native social and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" is a simplistic translation of . It is better descri ...

in the late twentieth century. His work has been both celebrated and criticized for its alignment with Hindu nationalism. 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.

Life

Early life

Sita Ram Goel was born to a Hindu family in

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, in 1921; though his childhood was spent in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. The family looked upon Sri Garib Das, a nirguna saint comparable to

Kabir Kabir ( 15th century) was a well-known Indian devotional mystic poet and sant. His writings influenced Hinduism's Bhakti movement, and his verses are found in Sikhism's scripture Guru Granth Sahib, the Satguru Granth Sahib of Saint Gar ...

and Nanak, as its patron saint and his verses, "Granth Saheb", were often recited at their home.Goel, Sita Ram
"How I became a Hindu"
, Chapter 1 Goel graduated in history from the

University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

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 Arya Samaj () is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda Saraswati founded the samaj in the 1870s. Arya Samaj was the first Hindu ...

, the Harijans and the Indian freedom movement, along with his strong support for

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

, brought him into conflict with many people in his village;Goel, Sita Ram
"How I became a Hindu"
Chapter 2 Goel also learned to speak and write

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

during his college days.Goel, Sita Ram
"How I became a Hindu"
Chapter 3

Works

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

In 1993 the MP Syed Shahabuddin, who in 1988 asked for the ban on ''

The Satanic Verses ''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel from the Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical re ...

'', demanded a ban on Ram Swarup's book ''Hindu View of Christianity and Islam''. 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.S.R. Goel, ed.: Freedom of Expression, 1998K. Elst: "Banning Hindu Revaluation", Observer of Business and Politics, 1 December 1993

Arun Shourie Arun Shourie (; born 2 November 1941) is an Indian economist, journalist, author and politician. He has worked as an economist with the World Bank, a consultant to the Planning Commission of India, editor of the ''Indian Express'' and ''The Time ...

and K. S. Lal protested against the ban.

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

In 1986, Goel reprinted Colin Maine's essay ''The Dead Hand of Islam'

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."Freedom of expression – Secular Theocracy Versus Liberal Democracy (1998, edited by Sita Ram Goel)

''The Calcutta Quran Petition''

Goel published '' The Calcutta Quran Petition'' with Chandmal Chopra in 1986. On 31 August 1987, Chopra was arrested by the police and kept in custody until 8 September for publishing the book with Goel. Goel absconded to avoid arrest.

''Hindu Temples – What Happened to Them''

There were proposals in November 1990 in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

to ban Goel's book '' Hindu Temples - What Happened to Them''.

Legacy

Sita Ram Goel has been described by Koenraad Elst as an "intellectual kshatriya". David Frawley said about Goel that he was "modern India's greatest intellectual kshatriya", and "one of India's most important thinkers in the post-independence era". According to Frawley, "Sitaram followed a strong rationalistic point of view that did not compromise the truth even for politeness sake. His intellectual rigor is quite unparalleled in Hindu circles..."

Books and booklets

English

Author * ''The China debate; whom shall we believe?'', Calcutta: Society for Defence of Freedom in Asia, 1953, 50 p. * ''Mind Murder in Mao-land'', Calcutta: Society for Defence of Freedom in Asia, 1953, 53 p. * ''Communist Party in China: a study in treason.'', Calcutta: Society for Defence of Freedom in Asia, 1953, 106 p. * ''China is red with peasants' blood'', Calcutta: Society for Defence of Freedom in Asia, 1953, 92 p. * ''CPI conspires for civil-war: analysis of a secret document'', Calcutta: Society for Defence of Freedom in Asia, 1953, 56 p. * ''Red brother or yellow slave ?'', Calcutta: Society for Defence of Freedom in Asia, 1953, 82 p. * ''Nehru's fatal friendship'', New Delhi: Society for Defence of Freedom in Asia, 1955, 29 p. * ''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. A reprint with changes would appear in 1993 as the Volume I of ''Genesis and growth of Nehruism''. * ''Hindu society under siege'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1981, 48 p. A revised edition released in 1994. * ''How I Became a Hindu'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1982, 67 p. A third enlarged edition would appear in 1993, 106 p. * ''The Story of Islamic Imperialism in India'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1982, 126 p. A second enlarged edition would appear in 1994, 138 p. * ''Defence of Hindu Society'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1983, 96 p. A second edition would appear in 1987 and a third enlarged one in 1994, 118 p. * ''Muslim separatism : causes and consequences'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1983, 123 p. A second revised edition will appear in 1995, 128 p. * ''Perversion of India's political parlance'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1984, 60 p. * ''History of heroic Hindu resistance to Muslim invaders, 636 AD to 1206 AD'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1984, 48 p. Another edition would be released in 1994, 58 p. * ''The emerging national vision'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1984, 15 p. * ''

St. Francis Xavier Francis Xavier, SJ (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; ; ; ; ; ; 7 April 15063 December 1552), venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus and, as a representative o ...

: the man and his mission'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1985, 16 p. * ''Papacy, its doctrines and history'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1986, 118 p. * ''Catholic Ashrams'': adopting and adapting Hindu dharma'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1988, 100 p. * ''History of Hindu–Christian Encounters, AD 304 to 1996'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1989, 405 p. A second revised and enlarged edition would appear in 1996, 530 p. * ''Hindus and Hinduism : Manipulation of meanings'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1993, 24 p. * ''Islam vis-a-vis Hindu temples'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1993, 66 p. * ''Genesis and growth of Nehruism. vol. 1, Commitment to Communism'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1993, 231 p. Reprint with changes of the 1963 book ''In defence of Comrade Krishna Menon''. * ''Stalinist "historians" spread the big lie'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1993, 38 p. * ''Jesus Christ : an artifice for aggression'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1994, 114 p. Editor * '' Hindu temples, what happened to them : Vol. I, A preliminary survey'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1990, 191 p. With

et al. Volume II would be released in 1993, 440 p. * ''Freedom of expression : secular theocracy versus liberal democracy'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1998, 179 p. Mostly articles. * ''Time for stock taking, whither

Sangh Parivar The Sangh Parivar (translation: "Family of the RSS" or the "RSS family") is an umbrella term for the collection of Hindutva organisations spawned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which remain affiliated to it. These include the pol ...

?'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1997, 468 p. Criticisms of the BJP and

RSS RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many ...

, including their responses. * '' Vindicated by Time: the Niyogi Committee report on Christian missionary activities'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1998, 1006 p. A reprint, with an introduction by Goel, of the official report on the missionaries' methods of subversion and conversion, from 1956. Prefaces, introductions or commentaries * Introduction to

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's ''World Conquest in Instalments'', Calcutta: Society for Defence of Freedom in Asia, 1952, 56 p. * Commentary of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

's ''The conquest of China'', Calcutta: Society for Defence of Freedom in Asia, 1954, 276 p. * Preface to Chandmal Chopra's '' The Calcutta Quran Petition'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1986, 71 p. A third revised and enlarged edition would appear in 1999, with more writing by Goel, 325 p. * Preface to ''

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (, , ''Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu''; 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799) commonly referred to as Sher-e-Mysore or "Tiger of Mysore", was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery ...

: Villain Or Hero? : an Anthology'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1993, 85 p. * Preface to the reprint of Mathilda Joslyn Gage's ''Woman, Church and State'' (1997, ca. 1880). A feminist critique of Christianity.

Hindi

Author * ''Pathabhṛshṭa'', 1960. * ''Saikyularijma : deśadroha kā dūsrā nāma'', 1983.Yashpal Sharma would translate it into English as ''India's secularism, new name for national subversion'', New Delhi: Voice of India, 1999, 107 p. * ''Udīyamāna raṣṭra-dṛṣṭi'', 1983. * ''Hindū samāja : saṅkeṭoṃ ke ghere meṃ'', 1988. * ''Saptaśīla'', 1999. Translator * ''Satyakama Socrates'', three dialogues of

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

: (

Apology Apology, The Apology, apologize/apologise, apologist, apologetics, or apologetic may refer to: Common uses * Apology (act), an expression of remorse or regret * Apologia, a formal defense of an opinion, position, or action Arts, entertainment ...

Crito ''Crito'' ( or ; ) is a dialogue written by the ancient Greece, ancient Greek philosopher Plato. It depicts a conversation between Socrates and his wealthy friend Crito of Alopece regarding justice (''δικαιοσύνη''), injustice (''ἀ ...

and

Phaedo ''Phaedo'' (; , ''Phaidōn'') is a dialogue written by Plato, in which Socrates discusses the immortality of the soul and the nature of the afterlife with his friends in the hours leading up to his death. Socrates explores various arguments fo ...

)) * Victor Kravchenko's '' I Chose Freedom'' *

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, and classics, classical scholar at Cambridge University, being a fellow first of Peterhouse then of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College. He is widely ...

's poem ''Elegy.'' *

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (anglicized as Bankim Chandra Chatterjee; 26 or 27 June 1838 – 8 April 1894) was an Indian Bengali novelist, poet, essayist and journalist.Staff writer"Bankim Chandra: The First Prominent Bengali Novelist" ''The ...

's ''Ramayaner Alochona'' * '' The God that Failed, a testimony on Communism by

Arthur Koestler Arthur Koestler (, ; ; ; 5 September 1905 – 1 March 1983) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest, and was educated in Austria, apart from his early school years. In 1931, Koestler j ...

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French writer and author whose writings spanned a wide variety of styles and topics. He was awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature. Gide's career ranged from his begi ...

and others.'' * Ram Swarup's ''Communism and Peasantry'' *

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically ...

'' * ''Shaktiputra

Shivaji Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

'', Denis Kincaid's ''The Grand Rebel'' * ''Panchjanya'', Taslima Nasrin's ''

Lajja Lajja may refer to: * ''Lajja'' (novel), a 1993 novel by Taslima Nasrin * ''Lajja'' (film), a 2001 Indian Hindi-language social drama film * ''Lajja'' (TV series), an Indian television series * Lajja Goswami (born 1988), Indian sport shooter * ...

References

Citations

Sources

India's only communalist – A short biography of Sita Ram Goel
Koenraad Elst * Elst, Koenraad, Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society (1991) * Goel, S.R. Freedom of Expression (1998)

External links

by Koenraad Elst, Leuven (Belgium), 28 May 1999.
pdf

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goel, Sita Ram 1921 births 2003 deaths Indian critics of Christianity Indian critics of Islam Indian anti-communists Indian political writers Indian publishers (people) Converts to Hinduism from atheism or agnosticism Indian Hindus Islam and politics Anti-Christian sentiment in India Voice of India writers Businesspeople from Punjab, India 20th-century Indian businesspeople Journalists from Punjab, India Indian male journalists Hindu nationalists Anti-Islam sentiment in India