New Delhi: The ongoing two-day Hindu Academicians' conference organised by the World Association of Hindu Academicians beginning from Saturday will focus on the two broader aspects, including 'Interpretation of the terms Hindu, Hinduism and Hindutva and 'Narratives about Hindus and Hindu Civilization' and a few others. Addressing the media on Saturday, Prof Nachiketa Tiwari, IIT Kanpur, coordinator of the World Association of Hindu Academicians, said, "The conference, which will continue till Sunday in Faridabad, will discuss the differences between the terms Hindu, Hinduism and Hindutva.
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He further said that Hinduism is a word that came into existence only in 1877 and was coined by a British scholar named Williams whose book was published by the 'Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge". While the term 'Hindu' is an ancient word and 'Hinduism' is a word that denotes the character of being a Hindu. For instance, the term 'Christian' and 'Christianity' are interrelated since the character of being a Christian is absorbed in the word Christianity and the same goes for the 'Hindutva' as well, said Professor Tiwari.
The ongoing two-day conference will also discuss the New Education Policy, Indian languages and their significance, and narratives about Hindu and Hindu civilization. To a question from the media on whether the ongoing conference will discuss the recent omissions in the syllabus of NCERT texts that has stirred a controversy, Prof Tiwari replied that "This is not a theme that will be discussed in this conference." On the conference's future objectives and road map, Tiwari said, "This conference is happening a long time after the pandemic. So, we have just begun and hopefully, we will continue to work for our objectives."
