Sat offers Hindus funding to write Indian history

YOUNG Hindus looking to write on the history of the East Indian diaspora in the West Indies may soon be funded by the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS).

This, according to SDMS gene­ral secretary Satnarayan Maharaj, is an effort to counter the false his­tory being perpetuated by “the children of converts”.

Maharaj made the statements on Wednesday at the launch yesterday of Food Production Minister Devant Maharaj’s (no relation) book, The Line of My Ancestors, which traces his family’s journey

and expansion into the New World.

The launch took place at the office of the principal at the University of the West Indies (UWI) campus in St Augustine.

Among those delivering remarks at the launch were UWI prin­cipal Prof Clement Sankat, chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice and Devant Maharaj’s cousin Leela Ramdeen, Prof John La Guerre, and historian Angelo Bissessarsingh.

Sat Maharaj said falsehoods about the diaspora include attempts to turn into myth the “fact”

that at least 13 per cent of the Indians who made the journey were, in their mo­therland, of the “Bra­hmin” caste.

Among the qualities of “Brahmins” is strong leadership tendencies, Maharaj said, and efforts

have been made by some wri­ters

to make this fact appear to be a falsehood for, among other things, the sake of conversion from Hinduism.

Maharaj said a lot of young Hindus are now “seeing the truth”.

“For 100 years, the his­­tory of East Indians has been written by the chil­dren of converts,” Maharaj said.

“The Maha Sabha will soon be offering support to young Hindus who want to write history, not create it.”