Language will suffer from such protests: Sanskrit scholar
VARANASI Noted Sanskrit scholar Radhavallabh Tripathi said that the ongoing protest against the appointment of Dr Firoz Khan protest will only have one sufferer: Sanskrit Language.
Expressing anguish at the turn of events at the department of Sahitya of Faculty of Sanskrit Vidya Dharm Vijgyan of BHU, professor Tripathi said that those protesting against the appointment of Khan, perhaps have no idea about the broad view of Hindu Dharma. There is no place for narrow thinking in Hindu Dharma.
Tripathi was part of the selection committee that recommended appointment of Khan after finding him most suitable on the basis of his performance in the interview for the post of assistant professor in the department of Sahitya on November 5.
“It is totally wrong to link a language to a religion. Language is for all. Interest matters in learning a language, not the religion. If a Hindu wishes to learn French, Spanish, Chinese or Urdu, he may learn. If a Muslim wants to learn Sanskrit or any other language, he may learn. If a Muslim can learn Sanskrit, then he may also teach the language,” Tripathi said.
“Those protesting against the appointment of Dr Firoz Khan have taken a wrong stand because Hindu Dharma talks of Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah (Wellbeing and happiness for all). Sanatan Dhrama is eternal and has a very broad perspective and idea. Narrow thinking has no place in it,” Tripathi said.
He said that any protest regarding the appointment of Khan is against the rule of law as the university is governed by the constitution and rules of the government of India and UGC, and all rules have been followed in the appointment of Khan.
“If such protests happen, no one belonging to another religion would like to study Sanskrit. I want to make it clear that Sanskrit will flourish only when more and more people learn it and study it. This is necessary for expansion of the language,” Tripathi said.
He said that there is a department of Sanskrit in Jamia Millia University, New Delhi. “All the teachers, as far as I know, are Hindus there. They teach Sanskrit there. Let’s not set the learning of a language into a particular frame. Let us ensure that Sanskrit flourishes and its essence spreads all around the world.
Tripathi said that there has been a rich tradition of Muslims learning Sanskrit texts related to philosophy and religion and Akbar was very interested in Vedic literature. He got Atharva Veda translated into Persian. Darashikoh was a scholar of Vedanta and a Sufi. He penned a book Samudra Sangam (Majma Ul Bahrain).
He said that Dara Shikoh translated 52 Upanishads into Persian. His translation of Upanishads into Persian let the world know about the philosophy of Upanishads and ancient Indian wisdom.