Voice of India
Encyclopedia
Voice of India is a New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

 (India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

) publishing house, supportive of Hindu nationalist sentiment and political ideology. It was founded by Ram Swarup
Ram Swarup
Ram Swarup , , born Ram Swarup Agarwal, was an independent Hindu thinker and prolific author. His works took a critical stance against Christianity, Islam and Communism. His work has influenced other Indian writers.- Life :He graduated in Economics at Delhi University in 1941...

 in 1983 and later joined by Sita Ram Goel
Sita Ram Goel
Sita Ram Goel , writer and publisher in late twentieth century. He had Marxist leanings during the 1940s, but later became an outspoken anti-communist that also spoke negatively about Islam and Christianity...

, who themselves published extensively under the label. It is notable for English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 books by Arun Shourie
Arun Shourie
Arun Shourie is an Indian journalist, author, intellectual and politician. He has been an economist with the World Bank , a consultant to the Planning Commission, India, editor of the Indian Express and Times of India and a minister in the government of India . He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay...

, David Frawley
David Frawley
David Frawley is an American Hindu author, publishing on topics such as Hinduism, Yoga and Ayurveda. He is the founder and director of the American Institute for Vedic Studies in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which offers courses on Yoga philosophy, Ayurveda, and Hindu astrology...

, Shrikant Talageri, Francois Gautier
François Gautier
François Gautier, born 1959 in Paris, is a writer and journalist based in India. He came to India at the age of 19 and spent his first eight years in the "international city" of Auroville India at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. He has been living in India since the 70's and is married to...

, Harsh Narain
Harsh Narain
Harsh Narain is an Indian author. He has a Ph.D. from Lucknow University, and was a professor at Benares Hindu University, Aligarh Muslim University and North Eastern Hill University....

, Subhash Kak
Subhash Kak
Subhash Kak is an Indian American computer scientist, most notable for his controversial Indological publications on history, the philosophy of science, ancient astronomy, and the history of mathematics...

, Koenraad Elst
Koenraad Elst
Koenraad Elst is a Belgian writer and orientalist .He was an editor of the New Right Flemish nationalist journal Teksten, Kommentaren en Studies from 1992 to 1995, focusing on criticism of Islam, various other conservative and Flemish separatist publications such as Nucleus, t Pallieterke,...

, N. S. Rajaram
N. S. Rajaram
Navaratna Srinivasa Rajaram is an Indian mathematician, who is however notable for his publications with the Voice of India publishing house focusing on the "Indigenous Aryans" controversy in Indian politics, in some instances in co-authorship with David Frawley.He's also a member of Folks...

.

Voice of India is a New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

 (India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

) publishing house, supportive of Hindu nationalist sentiment and political ideology. It was founded by Ram Swarup
Ram Swarup
Ram Swarup , , born Ram Swarup Agarwal, was an independent Hindu thinker and prolific author. His works took a critical stance against Christianity, Islam and Communism. His work has influenced other Indian writers.- Life :He graduated in Economics at Delhi University in 1941...

 in 1983 and later joined by Sita Ram Goel
Sita Ram Goel
Sita Ram Goel , writer and publisher in late twentieth century. He had Marxist leanings during the 1940s, but later became an outspoken anti-communist that also spoke negatively about Islam and Christianity...

, who themselves published extensively under the label. It is notable for English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 books by Arun Shourie
Arun Shourie
Arun Shourie is an Indian journalist, author, intellectual and politician. He has been an economist with the World Bank , a consultant to the Planning Commission, India, editor of the Indian Express and Times of India and a minister in the government of India . He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay...

, David Frawley
David Frawley
David Frawley is an American Hindu author, publishing on topics such as Hinduism, Yoga and Ayurveda. He is the founder and director of the American Institute for Vedic Studies in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which offers courses on Yoga philosophy, Ayurveda, and Hindu astrology...

, Shrikant Talageri, Francois Gautier
François Gautier
François Gautier, born 1959 in Paris, is a writer and journalist based in India. He came to India at the age of 19 and spent his first eight years in the "international city" of Auroville India at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. He has been living in India since the 70's and is married to...

, Harsh Narain
Harsh Narain
Harsh Narain is an Indian author. He has a Ph.D. from Lucknow University, and was a professor at Benares Hindu University, Aligarh Muslim University and North Eastern Hill University....

, Subhash Kak
Subhash Kak
Subhash Kak is an Indian American computer scientist, most notable for his controversial Indological publications on history, the philosophy of science, ancient astronomy, and the history of mathematics...

, Koenraad Elst
Koenraad Elst
Koenraad Elst is a Belgian writer and orientalist .He was an editor of the New Right Flemish nationalist journal Teksten, Kommentaren en Studies from 1992 to 1995, focusing on criticism of Islam, various other conservative and Flemish separatist publications such as Nucleus, t Pallieterke,...

, N. S. Rajaram
N. S. Rajaram
Navaratna Srinivasa Rajaram is an Indian mathematician, who is however notable for his publications with the Voice of India publishing house focusing on the "Indigenous Aryans" controversy in Indian politics, in some instances in co-authorship with David Frawley.He's also a member of Folks...

.Michael Witzel, 'Rama's Realm: Indocentric rewriting of early South Asian archaeology and history' in: Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public Routledge (2006), ISBN 0415305934, p. 205.http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0415305926&id=oB7pBZ3s6dIC&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=XTeyscAE_8&dq=Archaeological+Fantasies&sig=6eJm_oNlUBTjbKU-lL-DkBOLY98#PPA205,M1

Voice of India is a New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

 (India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

) publishing house, supportive of Hindu nationalist sentiment and political ideology. It was founded by Ram Swarup
Ram Swarup
Ram Swarup , , born Ram Swarup Agarwal, was an independent Hindu thinker and prolific author. His works took a critical stance against Christianity, Islam and Communism. His work has influenced other Indian writers.- Life :He graduated in Economics at Delhi University in 1941...

 in 1983 and later joined by Sita Ram Goel
Sita Ram Goel
Sita Ram Goel , writer and publisher in late twentieth century. He had Marxist leanings during the 1940s, but later became an outspoken anti-communist that also spoke negatively about Islam and Christianity...

, who themselves published extensively under the label. It is notable for English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 books by Arun Shourie
Arun Shourie
Arun Shourie is an Indian journalist, author, intellectual and politician. He has been an economist with the World Bank , a consultant to the Planning Commission, India, editor of the Indian Express and Times of India and a minister in the government of India . He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay...

, David Frawley
David Frawley
David Frawley is an American Hindu author, publishing on topics such as Hinduism, Yoga and Ayurveda. He is the founder and director of the American Institute for Vedic Studies in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which offers courses on Yoga philosophy, Ayurveda, and Hindu astrology...

, Shrikant Talageri, Francois Gautier
François Gautier
François Gautier, born 1959 in Paris, is a writer and journalist based in India. He came to India at the age of 19 and spent his first eight years in the "international city" of Auroville India at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. He has been living in India since the 70's and is married to...

, Harsh Narain
Harsh Narain
Harsh Narain is an Indian author. He has a Ph.D. from Lucknow University, and was a professor at Benares Hindu University, Aligarh Muslim University and North Eastern Hill University....

, Subhash Kak
Subhash Kak
Subhash Kak is an Indian American computer scientist, most notable for his controversial Indological publications on history, the philosophy of science, ancient astronomy, and the history of mathematics...

, Koenraad Elst
Koenraad Elst
Koenraad Elst is a Belgian writer and orientalist .He was an editor of the New Right Flemish nationalist journal Teksten, Kommentaren en Studies from 1992 to 1995, focusing on criticism of Islam, various other conservative and Flemish separatist publications such as Nucleus, t Pallieterke,...

, N. S. Rajaram
N. S. Rajaram
Navaratna Srinivasa Rajaram is an Indian mathematician, who is however notable for his publications with the Voice of India publishing house focusing on the "Indigenous Aryans" controversy in Indian politics, in some instances in co-authorship with David Frawley.He's also a member of Folks...

.Michael Witzel, 'Rama's Realm: Indocentric rewriting of early South Asian archaeology and history' in: Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public Routledge (2006), ISBN 0415305934, p. 205.http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0415305926&id=oB7pBZ3s6dIC&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=XTeyscAE_8&dq=Archaeological+Fantasies&sig=6eJm_oNlUBTjbKU-lL-DkBOLY98#PPA205,M1 Michael Bergunder, "Contested Past", Historiographia Linguistica xxxi:1 (2004), 59–104.http://theologie.uni-hd.de/rm/publikationen/bergunder/bergunder-selected-english-articles/

VOI has also published the official VHP evidence bundle in the book "History versus Casuistry, Evidence of the Ramajanmabhoomi Mandir".

Together with Aditya Prakashan, founded by Goel in 1963, it is alleged to be an outlet for the "revision
Historical revisionism (negationism)
Historical revisionism is either the legitimate scholastic re-examination of existing knowledge about a historical event, or the illegitimate distortion of the historical record such that certain events appear in a more or less favourable light. For the former, i.e. the academic pursuit, see...

 of the Aryan migration theory", targeting an audience of expatriate Indians in the USA in particular.

According to his own statements, Goel's intention in creating his publishing house was to contradict in print, 'scientifically', the Indo-Aryan migration
Indo-Aryan migration
Models of the Indo-Aryan migration discuss scenarios of prehistoric migrations of the proto-Indo-Aryans to their historically attested areas of settlement in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent...

 theory.

Partial list of publications

  • Agarwal, Vishal A case study in Eminent Historiography, in India's Only Communalist, ed. by Koenraad Elst
    Koenraad Elst
    Koenraad Elst is a Belgian writer and orientalist .He was an editor of the New Right Flemish nationalist journal Teksten, Kommentaren en Studies from 1992 to 1995, focusing on criticism of Islam, various other conservative and Flemish separatist publications such as Nucleus, t Pallieterke,...

     (2005).
  • Goel, Sita Ram
    Sita Ram Goel
    Sita Ram Goel , writer and publisher in late twentieth century. He had Marxist leanings during the 1940s, but later became an outspoken anti-communist that also spoke negatively about Islam and Christianity...

    • History of Hindu-Christian Encounters (1989)
    • Defence of Hindu society (1994) ISBN 978-8185990248.
    • Hindu Temples - What Happened to Them
      Hindu Temples - What Happened to Them
      Hindu Temples – What Happened to Them is a two-volume book by Sita Ram Goel, Arun Shourie, Harsh Narain, Jay Dubashi and Ram Swarup. The first volume was published in spring 1990....

      (1991).
    • How I Became A Hindu (1998) ISBN 978-8185990057.
    • India's Secularism (2000) ISBN 978-8185990590.
  • Elst, Koenraad
    Koenraad Elst
    Koenraad Elst is a Belgian writer and orientalist .He was an editor of the New Right Flemish nationalist journal Teksten, Kommentaren en Studies from 1992 to 1995, focusing on criticism of Islam, various other conservative and Flemish separatist publications such as Nucleus, t Pallieterke,...

    • Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society
      Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society
      Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society is a book by Koenraad Elst published in 1991 by Voice of India.The book is about the Ayodhya debate, but does also discuss Indian politics and communalism....

      (1991).
    • Ayodhya: The Case Against the Temple
      Ayodhya: The Case Against the Temple
      Ayodhya: The Case Against the Temple is a book by Koenraad Elst that was published in 2002 by Voice of India.Elst has written several books on the Ayodhya debate and on the Ram Janmabhoomi controversy. Koenraad Elst reiterates his view that the Babri Mosque was built on an ancient Hindu temple, the...

      (2002) ISBN 81-85990-75-1.
    • Ayodhya, The Finale
      Ayodhya, The Finale
      Ayodhya, the Finale - Science versus Secularism the Excavations Debate is a book by self-described 'Hindu revivalist' Koenraad Elst published in 2003 by Voice of India....

       - Science versus Secularism in the Excavations Debate
      (2003) ISBN 81-85990-77-8.
    • Gandhi and Godse - A review and a critique (2001) ISBN 81-85990-71-9.
    • Hindu Resurgence (1997) ISBN 81-85990-47-6.
    • Indigenous Indians: Agastya to Ambedkar (1993).
    • Psychology of Prophetism - A Secular Look at the Bible (1993) ISBN 81-85990-00-X.
    • Ram Janmabhoomi vs. Babri Masjid. A Case Study in Hindu-Muslim Conflict (1993).
    • The Saffron Swastika - The Notion of Hindu Fascism.
      The Saffron Swastika
      The Saffron Swastika: The Notion of Hindu "Fascism" is a book written by Koenraad Elst and published as two volumes in 2001. It discusses in detail the concepts of Hindutva and Hindu nationalism. He also argues against the idea that the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh...

      (2001) ISBN 81-85990-69-7.
    • Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate ISBN 8186471774.
    • Who is a Hindu?
      Who is a Hindu?
      Who is a Hindu? is a book by Koenraad Elst published in 2001 by Voice of India.In the first part of the book, Elst tries to give a definition to the term "Hindu", although he writes that "there is no simple solution for the complex question, “Who is a Hindu?”" He also compares Hinduism with...

      (2001).
    • Goel, Sita Ram, Catholic Ashrams: Sannyasins or Swindlers?, Voice of India, New Delhi, 1995.
    • Awaken Bharata: A Call for India's Rebirth (1998) ISBN 978-8185990514.
    • Hinduism: The Eternal Tradition (Sanatana Dharma) ISBN 81-85990-29-8.
    • The Myth of the Aryan Invasion of India (1994) ISBN 81-85990-20-4.
  • Rajaram, N.S.
    N. S. Rajaram
    Navaratna Srinivasa Rajaram is an Indian mathematician, who is however notable for his publications with the Voice of India publishing house focusing on the "Indigenous Aryans" controversy in Indian politics, in some instances in co-authorship with David Frawley.He's also a member of Folks...

    • Hindu View of the World: Essays In the Intellectual Kshatriya Tradition (1998) ISBN 978-8185990521.
    • Profiles in Deception: Ayodhya and the Dead Sea Scrolls, 2000.
    • The politics of history : Aryan Invasion Theory and the Subversion of Scholarship (1995).

Website

The internet domains voi.org (since 1998) and voiceofdharma.org (since 2004) are held by the Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 based "Viraat Hindu Sabha" of Satinder Trehan, who also holds hinduholocaust.com, sarvesamachar.com and hindutva.org.

Responses

Voice of India and Aditya Prakashan are at the center of allegations of a cottage industry  indulging in historical revisionism
Historical revisionism (negationism)
Historical revisionism is either the legitimate scholastic re-examination of existing knowledge about a historical event, or the illegitimate distortion of the historical record such that certain events appear in a more or less favourable light. For the former, i.e. the academic pursuit, see...

, as put forward by Michael Witzel and Steve Farmer in their debunking of the "Harappan horse seal" hoax of The Deciphered Indus Script (by N. S. Rajaram and N. Jha, Aditya Prakashan, 2000) in 2000:Witzel, Michael and Steve Farmer. 2000. Horseplay in Harappa, Frontline, 17(20), September 30-October 13.
Malati Shendge
Malati Shendge
Malati J. Shendge is an Indologist. She received her Ph.D in Buddhism from the University of Delhi. She has been a fellow of the Indian Council of Historical Research., and was a faculty member at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Presently she is Founder Director , Rang Datta Wadekar Centre for the...

, a Delhi Indologist unassociated with VoI, in a letter to the editor objected to her name being listed in a context of "Hindutva ideology or scholarship".

David Frawley
David Frawley
David Frawley is an American Hindu author, publishing on topics such as Hinduism, Yoga and Ayurveda. He is the founder and director of the American Institute for Vedic Studies in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which offers courses on Yoga philosophy, Ayurveda, and Hindu astrology...

 defends his publisher by statingFrawley, David
David Frawley
David Frawley is an American Hindu author, publishing on topics such as Hinduism, Yoga and Ayurveda. He is the founder and director of the American Institute for Vedic Studies in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which offers courses on Yoga philosophy, Ayurveda, and Hindu astrology...

How I became a Hindu: My discovery of Vedic Dharma

Bergunder (2004) characterizes Voice of India as a successful propaganda campaign by the extremist Hindu nationalist right,

In contrast to many other of their openly offensive teachings, the Hindu nationalists did not seek to keep the question of the Aryan migration out of public discourses or to modify it; rather, efforts were made to help the theory of the indigenousness of the Hindus achieve public recognition. For this the initiative of the publisher Sita Ram Goel (b.1921) was decisive. Goel may be considered one of the most radical, but at the same time also one of the most intellectual, of the Hindu nationalist ideologues. His radical views ensure that at times even the cadres of the Sangh Parivar distance themselves from him, for his extremist anti-Muslim tirades are seen by them as an obstacle to experiencing wider social acceptance. Since 1981 Goel has run a publishing house named ‘Voice of India’ that is one of the few which publishes Hindu nationalist literature in English which at the same time makes a ‘scientific’ claim. Although no official connections exist, the books of ‘Voice of India’ — which are of outstanding typographical quality and are sold at a subsidized price — are widespread among the ranks of the leaders of the Sangh Parivar.
According to his own statements, from the outset one of the declared goals of Goel was to use his publishing house to contradict in print the Aryan migration theory. It is therefore above all thanks to his efforts that since the 1990s a mass of books with high printruns have appeared, each of which has the declared goal of ‘scientifically’ refuting the Aryan migration theory. All of these books are either published directly by Voice of India, or by Aditya Prakashan, a publisher currently run by Goel's son, Pradeep Kumar Goel. This massive media staging of a ‘scientific’ revision of the Aryan migration theory was crowned with notable success. The publications found wide distribution among the more educated followers of the Sangh Parivar. Gradually also a certain public awareness beyond Hindu nationalist
circles was achieved. The increasing political influence of Hindu nationalism in the 1990s resulted in attempts to revise the Aryan migration theory also becoming known to the academic public.

Bergunder recognizes that not all authors published by VoI are on the extreme of the Hindu nationalist spectrum. He points out that most authors have no appropriate subject-specific study to show for themselves, naming Rao, who worked for the Archaeological Survey of India until 1980, as the single exception.

In the light of such criticism, Elst feels compelled to ascertain that it is "remarkable that all the writers who have published contributions to Hindu thought in the Voice of India series, are not members of any RSS front".
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