Koenraad Elst

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Koenraad Elst bigraphy, stories - orientalist, writer

Koenraad Elst : biography

7 August 1959 –

Koenraad Elst (born 7 August 1959) is a Belgian writer and orientalist (without institutional affiliation). He was an editor of the New Right Flemish nationalist journal Teksten, Kommentaren en Studies from 1992 to 1995, focusing on criticism of Islam, various other conservative and Flemish separatist publications such as Nucleus, ‘t Pallieterke, Secessie, or the neoconservative The Brussels Journal and Middle East Forum. He has authored fifteen English language books on topics related to Indian politics and communalism. His writings are frequently featured in right-wing publications.

Opinions

Hinduism and Indian politics

Elst is one of the few western writers (along with François Gautier) to defend the Hindu nationalism movements,See M. R. Pirbhai Demons in Hindutva, writing a theology for Hindu nationalism, Modern Intellectual History (2008), 5 : 27-53 Cambridge University Press , and Dibyesh Anand Anxious Sexualities: Masculinity, Nationalism and Violence BJPIR: 2007 Vol 9, 257–269 p.259. though he makes some secondary criticisms about particular points. Of these, about Hindutva specifically, he says, "there is no intellectual life in this Hindutva movement".Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society (1991) Chapter Fifteen He also says that Hindutva advocates have not developed a "wellfounded coherent vision on a range of topics which any social thinker and any political party will have to address one day", and that there is as yet very little original or comprehensive work being done in the Hindutva movement. According to Elst, "Hindutva is a fairly crude ideology, borrowing heavily from European nationalisms with their emphasis on homogeneity. Under the conditions of British colonialism, it was inevitable that some such form of Hindu nationalism would arise, but I believe better alternatives have seen the light, more attuned to the genius of Hindu civilization." Sometimes, Elst is critical of Hindutva for not going far enough in its criticism of Islam. He has also criticized fringe Hindutva writers for claiming that the Taj Mahal is a Hindu temple, or for claiming that the Vedas contain all the secrets of modern science.

Elst views the RSS as an interesting nationalist movement, while addressing some secondary critics, in which Elst criticizes the RSS for not going far enough in the nationalist realm.

Elst has criticized anti-Hinduism and anti-Hindu biases in the media and academia. Elst writes "when Hindus complain of factual problems such as missionary subversion or Muslim terrorism, it is always convenient to portray this spontaneous and truthful perception as an artefact of "RSS propaganda".

Elst’s book Ram Janmabhoomi vs. Babri Masjid, a Case Study in Hindu-Muslim conflict (1990) was the first book published by a non-Indian on the Ayodhya debate.Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society (1991) His opinion is that "until 1989, there was a complete consensus in all sources (Hindu, Muslim and European) which spoke out on the matter, viz. that the Babri Masjid had been built in forcible replacement of a Hindu temple."Koenraad Elst. Who is a Hindu? Chapter Nine He claimed that politically motivated academics have, through their grip on the media, manufactured doubts concerning this coherent and well-attested tradition. Elst alleges that the anti-Temple group in the Ayodhya conflict have committed serious breaches of academic deontology and says that the "overruling of historical evidence with a high-handed use of academic and media power" in the Ayodhya controversy was the immediate reason to involve himself in the debate.Koenraad Elst. Who is a Hindu? Chapter Eleven

Elst’s book Negationism in India: Concealing the Record of Islam makes the case that the Islamic history in India is being whitewashed. He claims that there is a larger effort to rewrite India’s history and to whitewash Islam. He says that the goal and methods of this alleged history rewriting is similar to the denial of the Nazi holocaust, and that in India jihad negationists are in control of the academic establishment and of the press.Negationism in India: Concealing the Record of Islam (1992) ISBN 81-85990-01-8