Tuesday
“'The time is now,' Pandey said, 'to restore India’s past glory by establishing that ancient Hindu texts are fact not myth. Sharma told Reuters he expects the conclusions of the committee to find their way into school textbooks and academic research.'" This quote comes from the reuters page and it is referring to using the Hindu texts to reestablish caste into the government. This would essentially put anyone who does not follow the Hindu tradition at a lower economic status. Another quote from the same article says "The epic tells how the god Rama rescues his wife from a demon king. It still informs many Indians’ sense of gender roles and duty." This further reinforces the idea of caste when it comes to gender. It would set women to a lower status and require them to be submissive to the men.
"They supported the demand for Akhanda Hindustan (Greater India), arm- ing "every deserving citizen," promoting Hindi, the right to own property, and adequate compensation for land taken away. They were against any reform of the caste system and wanted to give the 'untouchables' "high posts in the management of sanitary departments, and the leather and hides and allied trades." This quote comes from the "Historicizing Myth and Mythology" article and it explains what the RRP intended to do with their oppositional stance. They wanted caste reinstated but were willing to give the low class the higher spectrum of the crappy jobs. A crappy job is still a crappy job. But they believed strongly in Dharma and saw it beneficial to "put people in their place."
Thursday
On page 274 Ismail recalls a time where his teacher said he would be governor. While that didn't happen, it was significant that a high brahmin teacher would have such faith and belief in someone to move up in social class. Instead of rooting their beliefs in Dharma, they chose to believe that Ismail was destined for greater things, they wanted to see him work out of his class and into higher class. This would be a problem for the previous group discussed in tuesdays reading because it would break the system based on fulfilling Dharma. How can someone learn who they are and accept their social status from birth when they're constantly being told that they are meant for greater things