Revisiting The Hindus: An Alternative History by Wendy Doniger

I've been fairly obsessed about Penguin India's recent decision to recall and pulp Wendy Doniger's The Hindus: An Alternative History.

Here I have to make a disclosure: Penguin (US) actually gave me a complimentary copy.  It was flattering that a big operation like Penguin took note of my little blog and it appealed to my sense of vanity.

Here are a couple of worthwhile commentaries on Penguin India's recent decision to recall and pulp The Hindus: An Alternative History:

• Sandeep Balakrishna writes that the "outrage cleverly sidesteps the valid and vast critiques of Wendy Doniger’s scholarship and frames the issue as one of a book ban and Hindu fundamentalism" in his commentary Why the Wendy Doniger episode is not a free speech issue.
• Koenraad Elst describes the Hindu victory in getting Penguin India to recall and pulp The Hindu as a "Pyrrhic victory" (which it is) in his commentary Banning Wendy Doniger's "The Hindus."

In his article, Elst notes Vishal Agarwal's effort to compile a chapter-by-chapter refutation of The Hindus.  You may find Vishal's chapter-wise review at http://vishalagarwal.voiceofdharma.com/articles/thaah/.

Lastly, I have made a few changes in the last paragraph of my review on Goodreads.