Kausik Gangopadhyay

Author: Majoritarian Myth, Joy Bangla Deception.
Economist. IIM Prof. PhD: Univ Rochester.
Passion: Empirical Social Sciences.
Opinions are strictly personal.

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

After the incidents of August 2024, I felt the need to tell the real story of Bangladesh, rather than remaining a silent Bangladesh watcher and letting the liberals like Amartya Sen say an unreal story.

Here is, The 'Joy Bangla' Deception: Bangladeshi Islamism under the facade of Bengali Nationalism

Available at Amazon: https://t.co/olg0Mf4HBH

Buy from publisher: https://t.co/EF0kSIFon9

For their endorsements, I thank

Sri Tathagata Roy @tathagata2, Writer and former Governor

Dr. Richard Benkin, Human Rights Activist and Geopolitical Commentator

Abdullah al Masud, Bangladeshi humanist

Prof. Sachi G. Dastidar, Author and Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, State University of New York

Dr Saradindu Mukherji, Historian and Writer; Formerly of Delhi University;  former member, ICHR and ICSSR

Dr. Probal Roy Chowdhury, Director, Centre for New India Studies, Sister Nivedita University, Kolkata

Kanchan Banerjee, Author

The summary of the book as noted in the back cover:

For decades, liberals like Amartya Sen have claimed Bangladesh to be the paragon of peace, harmony and tolerance in the Indian subcontinent. The massive rise in Hindu persecution post August 2024 has proved that the liberal narrative of Bangladesh could not have been more wrong.

The book uncovers the story of Bangladesh that the alleged left had actively attempted to suppress and censor. It dispels the myth of 21 February as well as the language movement in East Pakistan. The story of Bangladesh is that of subversion of Hindus and Buddhists through legalised thefts to waves of pogrom to constant discrimination while paying lip service to the rhetoric of secularism.

After being the victim of violence in East Pakistan and Bangladesh, Bengalis are now facing the loss of their identity with the noise of Greater Bangladesh called by Maulana Bhasani becoming louder. The conferring of the award of the greatest Bengali to Mujibur Rahman or the peddling of the complete distortion of history by the Encyclopaedia Britannica that Bengali ethnicity was born from a massive migration of people from the middle-east around 1,400 years ago are its two expressions.

In conclusion, the book calls for safeguarding the Bengali identity and language by preventing its appropriation by the Bengali-speaking Islamists.

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

"Scratch a liberal and you'll find a bigot" (With apologies to Thomas Sowell).

[Sai Deepak J @jsaideepak]

So the article's factual assumption is that child sex abuse is more likely or likelier in poor, non-general castes and religious minorities? I genuinely hope that's not the assumption.

[Dr. Deepessh Divaakaran (Dr. DD) @md_deepesh]

Caste discrimination at IIT: The unfalsifiable theory.

Student:
“I have never experienced caste discrimination at IIT.”

Humanities Department:
“Exactly. That shows how invisible caste discrimination has become.”

Student:
“Most of my classmates don't even know my caste.”

Humanities Department:
“Exactly. That shows how deeply caste operates subconsciously.”

Student:
“My professor didn't even know my caste.”

Humanities Department:
“Exactly. That's structural Brahminism.
Individuals don't need to know.”

Student:
“My friends come from different castes.
Nobody really cares.”

Humanities Department:
“Exactly. That's how caste privilege normalises itself.”

Student:
“Students from every category study, eat and work together here.”

Humanities Department:
“Exactly. That's how structural discrimination hides behind apparent equality.”

Student:
“But where is the evidence of caste discrimination?”

Humanities Department:
“The absence of evidence shows how sophisticated the discrimination has become.”

Student:
“Okay. What evidence would prove that caste discrimination did NOT happen?”

Humanities Department:
“That question itself demonstrates caste privilege.”

Beautiful!!!
Well Done India!!! 👏

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

*discipline

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

It's not Merit vs Caste but Experiential Understanding vs Liberal Theory.

The IIT Bombay issue involving the sad death of Sahil Wakode has exposed the liberal theory.

Liberal Theory says that all groups could attain the same outcome, unless there is discrimination. The answer to any failing, therefore, must be tracked to discrimination and addressed by anti-discriminatory laws for an identity group.

A believer in liberal theory, therefore, must link the death of Sahil Wakode to only his caste identity. Of course, the number of deaths from general caste groups in elite educational institutions is about 40% [1], not much below their share of about 50%. It is significant and unexplainable by this theory.

Had any Prof of any institution harassed any student of any identity, that must be punishable irrespective of the identity of the student. Any special law is not required for any particular identity.

Thomas Sowell have found that IQs of different identity-based groups are different but more importantly these move with generations. The groups that invest more in education and human capital, gain their average IQ over generations. Those with experiential understanding accept this reality and suggest [3] slow-paced programme for students with difficulty. This would create a culture of acceptance of reality and taking own responsibility rather than blaming others. It is exactly the model of Indic socialism espoused by Vivekananda [4].

Here is the conclusive proof of my statement. I have a friend who is a professor at IIT Bombay in a technical disciple (very capable person). He is a dyed in the wool liberal. But with his experiential understanding in this case, he has concluded that the accused professor is innocent and the student did not suffer from any caste discrimination, contrary to the theories he considers sacred otherwise.

We are failing Vivekananda through our social sciences and humanities driven by liberal dogmas.

Vivekananda said [5],

"We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one’s own feet."

Liberal theories ridicule the value of character, accept "blaming others/ society" as coping mechanism (weakened mind), believe in unscientific theories [6] (contraction of intellect), and want people to rely on state rather than standing on own feet.

Do I need to say more?

References
1. https://t.co/xWQOZd3iEW
2. Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell by Jason L Riley, Basic Books (2021).
3. https://t.co/hOxTS8OTci
4. Vivekananda: “Ay, Brâhmins, if the Brahmin has more aptitude for learning on the ground of heredity than the Pariah, spend no more money on the Brahmin’s education, but spend all on the Pariah. Give to the weak, for there all the gift is needed. If the Brahmin is born clever, he can educate himself without help. If the others are not born clever, let them have all the teaching and the teachers they want.” (“The Mission of the Vedanta”, Lecture in Madras on 1897, The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 3.)
5. "My Idea of Education", The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 5.
6. The Majoritarian Myth by me (2024)

P.S.> I was busy with a manuscript and will be more active in this medium now.

[V. Ramgopal Rao, Ph.D. @ramgopal_rao]

I am disturbed to see Prof. Suryanarayana Doola being vilified over the recent controversy at IIT Bombay. I know Surya personally. He is one of the finest faculty members I have known in the IIT system, and a gentleman of the highest integrity. Whatever concerns have been raised should be examined fairly. A public campaign against an individual serves no one.

With over 25 years of experience at IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi, here is my take on the entire controversy and also a solution, which I believe we must look into.

The problems we are seeing are all primarily because of the one size fits all approach in IITs.

With students coming through an intensive coaching culture, and classrooms bringing together students whose JEE Advanced ranks range from single digits to five digits (in the same class -for example CSE in IIT Delhi), we now have highly heterogeneous classrooms across the IIT system. Language also further adds to the challenge.

The question to ask therefore is, with such heterogeneity, can we expect every student to learn at the same pace?

There is nothing wrong with opening the doors of our best institutions to students from different backgrounds. The question is whether we have addressed this heterogeneity in our teaching-learning methods.

A faculty member cannot pitch every class at several levels at once. Move too slowly, and some students lose interest. Move too quickly, and others are left behind. In my classes, I have also seen students with excellent JEE Adv ranks struggle. Coaching had prepared them to solve familiar types of questions quickly. Many are lost when they see a question which they haven't solved before.

This is not a difficulty confined to any admission category. The move from coaching to independent learning can be hard for anyone.

Here is a solution.

I feel we should consider moving our https://t.co/KVfDlMnXUZ programmes to five years in IITs. Those who meet the credit requirements could complete it in four years, or perhaps three and a half. Others could spread out their courses over five years and receive more academic help, including recorded lectures, online material and support with language where needed. The pace would be decided by performance within the IIT, not by a student’s admission category or entrance rank.

Calling it a five year programme for everyone has a psychological advantage. Students who need more time would simply be following the programme as designed, while those who are ready could complete it sooner. No one would be singled out for taking a fifth year.

We must uphold academic standards. We must also recognise that students do not all arrive at the same point, or learn at the same pace. Giving them the time and support to meet those standards is a responsibility of the system.

@iitbombay #IITs @iitdelhi

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

Do you want to understand the challenges economic policymakers of India face?

With @RudraSensarma , I have created a game for you. In this game, you become the leader of a fictional emerging economy inspired by India. Over rounds you set monetary and fiscal policy, managing inflation, unemployment, growth and debt while facing oil shocks, monsoon failures and global crises. Every decision carries both economic and political costs. By the end, you either win re-election or you don’t.

If you are an educator or student interested in Indian economy, you should try this game.

Heartfelt thanks to Akshat Rathi, Anusar Modi and the MSgames team for patiently turning years of discussion into something students can actually play. I also acknowledge the support from Asish George of RBI.

#Macroniti #Macroeconomics #EconomicsEducation

https://t.co/mOn3Hh4M9C

[Pondy Lit Fest @PondyLitFest]

"Classical Marxists wanted to defeat #capitalism by destroying capitalism. Today's Cultural Marxists? They're often funded by capitalist billionaires."

@kausikgy argues that modern movements focus on cultural battles while avoiding economic questions.

Do you agree?

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

A communist (especially one from West Bengal) would agree with all the three statements individually but not with the conclusion drawn from all of them put together.

1. Communism is not a mere political party but engenders a change in society. For example, the Communist rule for 34 years facilitated a huge social change in West Bengal.

2. When society changes, it becomes a different one political consciousness wise. This change is reflected in their political choice.

3. Mamata Banerjee (who was chosen by society as Chief Minister at the end of the Communist rule) is a far worse choice for CM than all the CMs who were chosen before the beginning of the Communist rule.

Conclusion: Communism changes society to a worse one.

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

Noble Intention vs Horrible Implementation: The Case of Three-Language Formula in CBSE

As an advocate of use of Indian languages, I really loved the New Education Policy (NEP, 2020) that wanted to bring back more choices for the Indian languages in the curriculum.

This is exactly why the sloppy implementation hurts me the most. Noble thoughts may have engendered the policy but the recipients of a circular would not care about those thoughts. Those recipients would only look the least challenging way this could be implemented in a centralized system.

The CBSE circular [1] prescribed Three-Languages while being completely ambiguous about the transition.

It did insist on three languages being compulsory from the 9th standard (albeit mentioned 1 July 2026 as that starting date conveniently forgetting that schools have started their teaching from 1 June 2026 in many states). They left the choice of the second language, arguably, to the schools.

Most importantly, NEP did understand the problem of teaching infrastructure for teaching various languages and suggested online curricula to supplement the school teaching staff. This has not even appeared once in the circular.

The effect?

1. Schools in many states of South India have replaced Hindi by the state language for the second language after English for all standards. This is difficult for the out-of-the-state professional class whose children are suddenly left with no option but to study the state language at the highest level possible.

What would happen when they would move to another state in two-three years? Would their children have to switch to another second language? The idea of CBSE is to provide an all-India curriculum. Those who are passionate about the state language could always study in the state boards.

2. International boards could solve the above problem. Therefore, this circular is the biggest marketeer for schools with those boards. For an Indian who lives in an Indian state with a different language, the viable choice of educational board for child is an outside Indian board now, not an Indian board. Is this even an irony?

3. Sanskrit becomes even more marginalised as now it is a choice between Hindi and Sanskrit unlike before when it was a choice for many parents who could have both.

References :
[1] https://t.co/aRlOgiBRRY

#cbse2026

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

Today we may not find people with deep understanding at the helm but we could always work to create the ground for that to happen in future.

[Alo Pal @AloPal]

Genuinely believe this effort at @PondyLitFest
To speak to Kausik Gangopadhyay (@kausikgy) author of The Majoritarian Myth, on Cultural Marxism and Post Modernism should be dosed to the "cockroaches".
https://t.co/V61DdymLgT

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

Vande Mataram and the Changing Muslim Narrative: The Hypocrisy of the Liberals

Vande Mataram was the most important composition that motivated the Indian freedom fighters.

Till 1905, Muslims had no problem with the song [1]. For example:

a. Moulvi Mohammad Akram Khan, a religious scholar and translator of the Quran into Bengali was happy with singing Vande Mataram before 1905.

b. Vande Matram was sung with due honour among the presence and approval of Barrister Abdul Rasul, the President of the Bengal Provincial Congress annual meeting, in Barishal during April 1906 [2].

Now the British were instrumental in creating the Islamist narrative in India and got Khwaja Salimullah, Nawab of Dhaka with them. He founded All India Muslim League in 1906.

Suddenly Vande Mataram started being called anti-Islam, loudly over time.

When communists [3] and liberals say that Vande Mataram is anti-Islam. They only parrot one particular narrative of the Muslim society, the Islamist narrative. This narrative has created Pakistan.

Liberals denounce creation of Pakistan as unfortunate but support the narrative that led to creation of Pakistan.

Muslim voices like Kazi Nazrul Islam who supported Vande Mataram are ignored. And, then the liberals consider this as Indian Islam!

References
1. Rejaul Karim, Bankimchandra O Musalman Samaj, Radical Impression, 2014.

2. Jagadish Bhattacharya, Vande Mataram, Dey's Publishing, 2006.

3. https://t.co/ToWoyTHDEU

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

Communist Hate for Vande Mataram

Communists and their descendants liberals believe in internationalism. They hate Vande Mataram, the National Song of India.

Where does it stem from? The verdict on the song as well as Bankim Chandra was pronounced by Muzaffar Ahmad (1889-1973). He was the official founder (and a member of the Bengal Provincial Khilafat Committee in his erstwhile avatar.

He writes in his autobiography [1]:

"The revolutionary terrorists of Bengal drew their fiery inspiration from Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s Anandamath. Yet this very book, from beginning to end, is saturated with communal venom. Its central mantra was Bankim Chandra’s immortal song *Vande Mataram*, which proclaims:

“In your arms, O Mother, resides Strength;
In your heart, O Mother, dwells Devotion.
We build your image in temple after temple.
You are Durga, the ten-armed bearer of weapons...”

How could any monotheistic Muslim youth ever chant such a mantra?"

In the 1930s, the Muslim League began branding Bankim Chandra as “communal,” claiming that Vande Mataram promoted idolatry. Muzaffar Ahmed simply sang in tune with them.

Here is what most people do not know. A young Bengali Muslim poet—Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976)—a friend of Muzaffar Ahmed—wrote with soaring reverence on Vande Mataram and Bankim Chandra [2]:

“Sri Chaitanya swept the world away in waves of divine love. Bankim Chandra, however, made even the bound and imprisoned soul laugh and weep in its very chains. He painted with flawless mastery both the inner and outer reality of man. In this, Bankim Chandra stands as a true Rishi and Muni.

"In a stagnant pond that had lost all pull toward the ocean, he made the lotus of joy bloom. He infused it with the power and thirst to break its surrounding barriers.

"The immense abundance of this very power found immortal expression in the words of *Vande Mataram*. The same song that had dreamed of turning seven crore Bengalis into the vanguard of a new Mahabharata breathed life and fire into the entire nation of India.”

No wonder, Nazrul was a freedom fighter and nationalist and Muzaffar Ahmad was a communist!

Here is even more astonishing thing. Communists and Islamists both claim Nazrul as their own!!!

References

1. Muzaffar Ahmed, Amar Jeevan O Communist Party.

2. Nazrul Rachanabali, Volume 11, Sahitya Akademi, Dhaka.

Acknowledgement: Pinaki Paul

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

@maxratul Said it. See:
https://t.co/o4pvxIwyP0

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

@Pratyus28825495 This is fake. Nazrul probably wrote for the last time in 1942 or so, before becoming sick for the last 34 years of his life. He actually wrote an article called "Pakistan na Fankistan" exposing the emptiness of the proposal.

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

Communist Hate for Vande Mataram

Communists and their descendants liberals believe in internationalism. They hate Vande Mataram, the National Song of India.

Where does it stem from? The verdict on the song as well as Bankim Chandra was pronounced by Muzaffar Ahmad (1889-1973). He was the official founder (and a member of the Bengal Provincial Khilafat Committee in his erstwhile avatar.

He writes in his autobiography [1]:

"The revolutionary terrorists of Bengal drew their fiery inspiration from Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s Anandamath. Yet this very book, from beginning to end, is saturated with communal venom. Its central mantra was Bankim Chandra’s immortal song *Vande Mataram*, which proclaims:

“In your arms, O Mother, resides Strength;
In your heart, O Mother, dwells Devotion.
We build your image in temple after temple.
You are Durga, the ten-armed bearer of weapons...”

How could any monotheistic Muslim youth ever chant such a mantra?"

In the 1930s, the Muslim League began branding Bankim Chandra as “communal,” claiming that Vande Mataram promoted idolatry. Muzaffar Ahmed simply sang in tune with them.

Here is what most people do not know. A young Bengali Muslim poet—Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976)—a friend of Muzaffar Ahmed—wrote with soaring reverence on Vande Mataram and Bankim Chandra [2]:

“Sri Chaitanya swept the world away in waves of divine love. Bankim Chandra, however, made even the bound and imprisoned soul laugh and weep in its very chains. He painted with flawless mastery both the inner and outer reality of man. In this, Bankim Chandra stands as a true Rishi and Muni.

"In a stagnant pond that had lost all pull toward the ocean, he made the lotus of joy bloom. He infused it with the power and thirst to break its surrounding barriers.

"The immense abundance of this very power found immortal expression in the words of *Vande Mataram*. The same song that had dreamed of turning seven crore Bengalis into the vanguard of a new Mahabharata breathed life and fire into the entire nation of India.”

No wonder, Nazrul was a freedom fighter and nationalist and Muzaffar Ahmad was a communist!

Here is even more astonishing thing. Communists and Islamists both claim Nazrul as their own!!!

References

1. Muzaffar Ahmed, Amar Jeevan O Communist Party.

2. Nazrul Rachanabali, Volume 11, Sahitya Akademi, Dhaka.

Acknowledgement: Pinaki Paul

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

@abhijitmajumder Thank you Sir 🙏

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

*Muzaffar Ahmad was the official founder of the Communist Party (and a member of the Bengal Provincial Khilafat Committee in his erstwhile avatar).

[Young Thinkers' Forum @YTFbhopal]

Economist, author, and academic thinker @kausikgy in conversation with YTF about his book and you know what, there couldn’t be a better time to share this. 📚

#Bangladesh
#Books

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

@durdhar Please check with @BluOneInk

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

Who coined the word Hindutva?

The medieval Hindu word was Hinduyani (often Henduyani) that contained the idea. When Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-1891) reformed the Bengali language and sanskritised it considerably, it was inevitable that the word would be rendered as Hindutva.

I am not sure who exactly used the term first. But it was not Chandranath Basu.

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838-1894) used the word three times in his writings (all in 1880s or earlier: https://t.co/Y6RWXg3lX8

Basu, in his preface, has acknowledged the role of Bhudev Mukhopadhyay and Bankim Chandra on the subject matter.

The beauty of Basu's Hindutva is that it has a created a framework. Hindutva was considered a development of the Hindu philosophy of Soham (I am Him) while the Western governance was viewed as a development of the Biblical God (who is transcendental).

As a person, who has edited the translation, I would love feedback from the readers on it:

https://t.co/7B6H3nj1YK

[Devamritasya Putra - देवामृतस्य पुत्र: 🇮🇳 @whiffofreshair]

Brilliant piece. But here’s a nuance that makes it even richer.

If you go back to Chandranath Basu himself, he clearly acknowledges his intellectual debt, drawing inspiration from Hemendranath Mukhopadhyay and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.

Which means the story runs deeper.
Hindutva didn’t begin in 1892 - it was already fermenting in Bengal’s mindspace, shaped by earlier voices, before Basu gave it a name.

Ideas rarely arrive in a moment.
They build. They echo. They mature.

Bengal didn’t just coin Hindutva.

It incubated it.

#Bengal #Hindutva #IntellectualHistory #CivilizationalRoots #IndiaDecides

[Kausik Gangopadhyay @kausikgy]

@ArgumnttvIndian @Bharatarian Yes but they were not from his own society. He may have yielded to the prevalent consensus on those occasions. The praise towards Ram Mohan comes up in a private conversation. Please mark that Vivekananda was no Brahmo who troubled him much.