| Summary/Abstract |
The collection of essays included in this issue of South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies deals with a subject that, in the early months of 2014, commanded public attention on two counts: firstly, the decision of Penguin India to remove from sale and pulp Wendy Doniger's book, The Hindus: An Alternative History; and secondly, the appointment of Professor Y.S. Rao to the chairmanship of the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR). Both events are related in that they were immediately connected in the minds of interested parties with the anticipated and then achieved victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the elections for the centre held in April and May 2014. Of these events, the first relates directly to the dissemination of scholarship in Social Sciences and Humanities as they apply to India, whereas the second concerns how this scholarship will be undertaken under the auspices of state funding. They are interrelated to the extent that they potentially embody a new paradigm in the study of Indian history and religion, one that could have implications outside India itself.
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