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followed concept of a secular state which all the same allows for a
different personal law for Hindus and Muslims. Instead, they
propagate a Hindu state where the majority will set the rules which
the minorites have to abide by. If this political trend finds the support
of a majority, all minorities including the Muslims, Christians,
Parsees, and Jews will have to face a new situation; and whether a
majority of the Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs will accept the patronizing
invitation to be treated as Hindus is still to be seen. But although we
may blame the so-called Hindu fundamentalists for forgetting the
state's commitment to protecting all its subjects, it is worthwhile to
remember that both nationalism and religious intolerance form part
of India's heritage from the West. Neither of these factors played any
major role in the former Hindu states.
On the other hand there are a number of phenomena such
as the rapidly increasing modernization in several branches of the
Indian public sector, the political aperture towards the West and the
Far East, the continuing upward trend in its economy and, most
important, an excellent standard in contemporary writing, art and
scholarship, which can be taken as distinctive signs of a society
engaged in rapid change— a society which may face disruption but
is also vibrant with creative forces. In the cultural sector it continues
to be highly interesting; and no doubt its role in world economy will
be considerable in the future. The engagement of Indian industrial
companies in the eastern parts of Germany testifies to the presence
of India in the complex network of international economy.
Why do we revert our thoughts to Hermann Gundert today,
134 years after he left India for good, and a hundred years after his
death, in order to discuss for several days his life and his scholarly
work? It is because for our own time and for the future there is still
meaning in what Hermann Gundert put into practice long ago: an
open-minded encounter with people of another culture, with
attention to details but also with an attempt at understanding a
complex whole; and encounter with mutual respect and guided by
genuine interest and personal engagement; and an encounter that
seeks to perceive and to document whatever is of importance from
the point of view of the other culture.
There is yet another reason why the example of Gundert may
be worth following today or in the future. The south of India— and
