In December 2023, almost all of the information in Wikipedia on the present writer was removed, apparently by a Wikipedia editor of Indian origin based in Chicago.
There are those who appreciate the transformation of the Idea of India into the Idea of Bharat that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been carrying out since 2014, and those who do not. In the case of the present writer, many friendships have persisted despite differences of view about the Modi Decade. As for critics of such views after having written considerably more than a million words in print outlining ideas on subjects of interest, such a collation is the best defence against efforts at defamation. Often, evidence of personal, subjective views overriding what ought to be objective professional conduct surfaces.
Wikipedia is a platform conceived by the genius of its founder, Jimmy Wales. Variants of the platform have done yeoman service, including when it hosted whistleblowers of renown such as Julian Assange. In 2020, it was pointed out by the present writer that large social media platforms based in the US were infested with Algo Warriors. These are the unknown (to the public) creators of algorithms that are used as weapons of Infowar. Such algos ensure that negative, often misleading, information comments about their targets appear swiftly on searches, while information that is favourable either get eliminated from the platform or pushed down, making it harder to find. An editor’s personal biases should not result in manipulation of the information made available on an information platform. Acting in such a manner reflects a subjective agenda that supercedes the objective interests of the platform and the public it serves.
In December 2023, almost all of the information in Wikipedia on the present writer was removed, apparently by a Wikipedia editor of Indian origin who is a student in Chicago. Acquaintances who tracked his social media posts claim that he belongs to the Audrey Truschke school of thought about India. Dr Truschke often voices her conclusion, mistaken though this be, that India is a dystopian hell for religious minorities, and is a country where Hindus have monopolised power and its attendant benefits since 2014. Those who point out that her views are contrary to facts have a right similar to hers to express themselves, but are often countered by abuse and innuendo. The rebuilding of the temple built on the birthplace of Lord Ram that was destroyed by Emperor Aurangzeb in 1660 has been viewed by her as demonstrating “Hindu Supremacy”. According to those subscribing to the Truschke school of thought, Aurangzeb was a liberal in his time, the way Franklin Roosevelt was during his presidency. Millions who perished at the Emperor’s hands show that such a view of Aurangzeb is a travesty of the facts.
To present as evidence of “Hindu Supremacist” sentiment the celebration of the restoration of one of the three sacred sites of the Hindu community (Kashi and Mathura being the others), all of which were destroyed by Aurangzeb, is a mischaracterisation of followers of the faith that she claims to have studied. Such feelings within the Hindu community are as natural as the emotions within members of the Catholic community when they behold the Vatican, or the reverence experienced by Muslims when they go to the holy cities of their great faith, Mecca and Medina. Another example of what the Truschke school considers evidence of “Hindu Supremacy” was the 2019 removal of Article 370 (which temporarily overrode the operation of some of the permanent Articles of the Constitution of India that gave rights to citizens and to governments elected by them). None of the turmoil (that was forecast by admirers of Truschke) after the revocation of Article 370 has occurred. Another suggestion that arouses the ire of the Truschke school is about implementing a Uniform Civil Code. Does she similarly regard the government in her own country as “hate-filled and fanatic against the minorities” because it has a uniform civil code, as do several Muslim-majority countries? As for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the reality is that the return to the pre-Aurangzeb state of the temple situated on the birthplace of Lord Ram will heal rather than exacerbate what votaries of the Truschke school ignore, which is the lingering pain of a Partition that was based on the untenable claim that Hindus and Muslims were “different nations” rather than a single people. Soon, a magnificent mosque will arise in Ayodhya as part of the overall plan for that pilgrim city. Will this also be termed by Dr Truschke as another example of “Hindu Supremacy”?
Over three decades ago, the present writer pointed out (in an op-ed entitled “The Importance of Indutva” in the Times of India) that the three strands of the Vedic, Mughal and Western periods of Indian history are woven together in a composite cultural DNA that unites Hindus, Muslims and Christians, not to mention those belonging to other faiths. Also, in 2003 at the India International Centre in New Delhi, the present writer organised the first Track II conference bringing together India, Israel and the US. It was opposed by the Central government of the time on the ground that it would exacerbate communal passions. As a consequence, high-level official engagements previously fixed for the delegates were abruptly cancelled. To the credit of Cabinet-level appointees such as Home Minister L.K. Advani, HRD Minister M.M. Joshi, Defence Minister George Fernandes and Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson K.C. Pant, not to mention President Abdul Kalam himself, each met participants to the trilateral conference informally at their homes, thereby bypassing official objections to the meet that later proved to be groundless. There was no adverse public reaction whatsoever to the 2003 India-Israel-US conference, thereby underlining the fact that the population of India, irrespective of community, is overwhelmingly moderate.
In the case of Taiwan, the present writer has sought from the 1990s to promote the creation of a tech partnership between India and Taiwan. This included bringing Taiwanese groups decades ago to meet the then Chief Ministers of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, and hosting a lifelong fighter for freedom and democracy, Taiwan’s Dr Tsai Ing-wen. None such activity has survived the scissors wielded by the editor in question.
Apart from Indutva, concepts including the setting up of an Asian NATO, the Constrainment of China, the concept of the Proxy Nuclear State getting created to harass a neighbour, Southern Asia stretching from West Asia to Southeast Asia rather than just South Asia as India’s natural hinterland and a 21st century Anglosphere have been articulated by the present writer, who is the country’s and very probably the continent’s first ever professor of geopolitics. These are among the numerous snippets which have since disappeared from Wikipedia. Since just August 2022, three more books by the present writer have been published, by Rupa, Manipal Universal Press and Penguin-Random House, respectively.
None seems to have caught the attention of the individual who ensured that almost every item of information about the author was cancelled from Wikipedia. Some of the publications the present writer has contributed to are mentioned in what purports to be an exhaustive list. In the process, the editor has omitted many other publications that have carried contributions, including the Asian Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, the Japan Forward, the Diplomat, the Far Eastern Economic Review and CNN. The marvel of Wikipedia should not deviate from the path mapped by the founder, else a better name for it would be Wokepedia.