The book ‘Snakes in the Ganga’ by Rajiv Malhotra and Vijaya Viswanathan is eliciting critical acclaim from various quarters. This book is published by BlueOne Ink, and it “unveils uncomfortable truths concerning India’s vulnerabilities.” Readers of the book state that the authors have gone into intricate details about the new threats to India even as it tries to present itself as a new economic, political and cultural force with a rich tradition of liberalism.

The book is divided into three parts and explains how American Marxism is being exported into Bharat through individuals who support ideas and institutions that are dangerous to the country. The book has a unique title, which according to the authors – “the title is a metaphor for hidden dangers. The snake is a metaphor for danger and Ganga indicates the negativity that remains hidden. Ganga is a safe place, and we don’t suspect any threats when we bathe in it. The book exposes that unknown to most people, some vicious enemies of dharma are lurking beneath the surface. When you are bathing in the river, you are immersed in Mother Ganga, in the feeling of sacredness. You have a feeling of safety and comfort and a hope for rejuvenation. Therefore, you let down your guard and expose yourself totally. You are totally unsuspecting and vulnerable. The last thing you expect is that there are also poisonous snakes nearby.” The book highlights that Harvard is the nest of snakes, the place where anti-India activists and ideas are incubated and bred. New threats have emerged that need to be identified and dealt with.

“Snakes are used as a metaphor for “poisonous” things like people and ideas. Snakes are a metaphor for Ganga because they are concealed from view and we don’t expect them to be here.” The significance of Rajiv Malhotra’s book “Snakes in the Ganga” is delineated. “Harvard is a snake’s nest; their websites and dissertations are rife with the anti-Indian and anti-Hindu sentiment. In essence, we are compiling that and providing theory to justify their actions. This desire to undermine social structures is a relatively new phenomenon” he added in an interview.

The book explains the new academic frameworks and discourse being developed in places like Harvard University that have sinister intentions towards India. It also explains how some of India’s own elites, including some well-known patriots, are knowingly or unknowingly, consciously or maybe unconsciously, actively sponsoring such negative forces. The book says that the nest where these snakes are being incubated and nurtured are American Ivy League universities. The production of such anti-India knowledge involves a large number of Indians at every level, but the overall leadership at the highes highest levels tends to be controlled by Westerners.

 

Many bright young Indians are lured into Harvard’s orbit, tutored and brainwashed before being exporting back to India to spread the dangerous thinking. The authors examine in detail several snake nests at Harvard – various departments and centers in public health, humanities, government, South Asian Studies and other disciplines, all under the Harvard brand. Even entire institutions are being set up in India where such individuals and ideologies are imported and spread among India’s present and future leaders. Many such snakes are camouflaged as movements like human rights, social justice, women’s empowerment, LGBTQ empowerment, pluralism, free speech, democracy, and other such buzzwords.

 

 

The book also looks into the role of Indian corporates in ” bringing the latest Western rubric of Environmental, Social, and Governance ratings into their workplace.” In an interview, the author had also pointed out how Indian billionaires are sponsoring anti-India agenda through their association with Harvard. Anand Mahindra’s Mahindra Humanities Centre, Laxmi Mittal’s South Asia Institute and Piramal’s Public Health centre were some of the examples cited by him.

Social Science and liberal arts at Harvard aren’t based on Indian ideas. Shri Rajiv Malhotra says – “If Bharatiyas want to sponsor Harvard, then they should sponsor streams such as science, technology, engineering, and medicine.” Harvard is the breeding ground of anti-India propaganda. Harvard houses anti-nationals from India and it is now training people on governance as policymakers are attending courses in the university. “It has unparalleled intellectual power to dismantle India,” noted Shri Rajiv. In this interview, Rajiv also highlighted the difference between India and China in terms of setting the agenda. He pointed out how China doesn’t engage Harvard in social justice and human rights. China sets the agenda while Bharat follows the agenda set by Harvard. The book also deals with how “China has exploited this latest infrastructure as a passage to India.”

An important point explained in the book is that the DNA of such snakes is Marxism; this poison is spilling into society. The book explains how Marxism is being reformulated and repackaged into ideological systems like Critical Race Theory. The authors are in support of movements like Black Lives Matter but wish to point out how such movements are being dovetailed to fulfil Marxist agendas. Americanisation of Marxism is a concept which adds races to the Marxist theory of economic classes. Germans who settled in America developed this theory. This is the seed of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and wokeism. Rajivji said Herbert Marques who came to California’s Berkley University developed the clash of races theory. He also pointed out that the CRT has been superimposed on India as the Critical Caste Theory (CCT).

Rajivji stated superimposing foreign history on India gives rise to concepts like CCT that have no connection with Bharat’s reality. Propagators of this theory falsely equate Brahmins with whites and ‘Dalits’ with blacks. The main intention is to project oppression of ‘Dalits’ like those faced by blacks. Shri Rajiv Malhotra further pointed out that even Muslims are presented as oppressed minorities.

According to its summary, the book uncovers how “intense warfare against India’s integrity is the work of a well-orchestrated global machinery driven by a new ideology.” The book divulges into how “wokeism has penetrated some of the Indian government’s policies. For instance, the National Education Policy 2020 is propagating Harvard’s liberal arts.” Americanizing the social structure of another country is arrogance. Explaining how American concepts are exported to Bharat, Shri Rajiv cited institutes such as Ashoka University, TISS, and Azim Premji University among others. These institutions propagate the ideas and concepts incubated at Harvard.

The author spoke about two such persons from the cabal. Ajanta Subramaniam has written a book alleging that IITs are brahminical where ‘Dalits’ are oppressed. She says Brahmin supremacy is being exported when companies abroad employ them. She is being supported by the Harvard ecosystem. Suraj Yengde is a fellow at Harvard Kennedy School who identifies as an Afro-Dalit. He wants ‘Dalits’ to identify as blacks. However, he has a flawed understanding of Buddhism, Hindu Dharma and Marxism. Rajivji also said that Suraj has weird ideas regarding caste and the Aryan invasion theory.

Rajiv Malhotra said that while the left-liberals have a well-developed ecosystem, the pro-Bharat activists aren’t coordinated. The book would help the pro-Bharat activists to articulate and put forward their views in a better manner. The first part of the book deals with the discourse and who produces it, Harvard as the snake nest/incubator is the second part, and the final part explains how it reflects in India.

Conclusion –

This is a very exciting and provocative book. It could upset some people simply because they are not used to seeing these widely acclaimed ideas and institutions in this light. But there is ample evidence cited, literally over a thousand end notes and several pages of bibliography. And it isn’t just a few individuals here and there that may be considered the dangerous snakes in this thesis, but a pretty large number. This is yet another wakeup call for India!

The byline ‘Breaking India 2.0’ explains how the new dangers have emerged in the present scenario, compared to the ones discussed in Malhotra’s earlier classic book, Breaking India, written over a decade ago, but the forces this time around seem wider in scope and backing.

This book discusses Breaking India 2.0 which is far more serious in its insidiousness, influence, funding, and resources, and its impact on the Indian civilisation as a whole. As an after-effect of Malhotra’s earlier books, Breaking India and Being Different, the thoughtful readers have been questioning the extent of colonised conditioning of Indians. But colonisation has taken on a different hue in the modern day, with open adulation of everything American. This also means that Indians are opening up to American ideas, good or bad, which makes it easy for their social movements to get mirrored in India, even when they do not apply. The fact that these theories get spun in leading Ivy League universities like Harvard makes them all the more acceptable to many of us. And when there’s this huge, dedicated machinery consisting of people, networks, projects, and institutions that are dedicated to transferring these ideas to us, there’s no escape from the situation. Concerned readers hope that Snakes in the Ganga is taken seriously and the Ganga is cleaned up before it is too late for India.

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