INACS Conference in New Delhi

Seeking to formalize studies in Civilizational Knowledge System with the aim of constituting "Integral Knowledge" by redefining contemporary studies, the Indian National Academy of Civilizational Studies (INACS) held its annual conference on November 27 at Tagore Hall, Delhi University Campus, New Delhi. It was attended by many intellectuals, researchers, educationists and students in the background of civilisational studies in India, its historical evolution, an assessment of previous and current efforts while charting course for future. The conference commenced at 10 in the morning concluding at late 8 in the evening. Its focus was to re-re-discover the entire knowledge from the past where it lies locked in time, study the contemporary disciplines with the aim of enunciating "Integral Knowledge" combining the best strands of intellectual outputs through re-establishment of Sanskrit as a medium of intellectual discourse in India.

The Academy had invited papers on the topics viz. "Shaping of Post-Independence India: Nehruism and the Indian Civilisational Ethos", "Legacy of the Sufis in India: A Socio-Cultural Appraisal", "Formalization of Studies in Civilizational Knowledge System", "Prospects for making Sanskrit as Medium of Intellectual Discourse in India" and "Hindi Navjagaran Ki Vichardhara". Out of thirty-one papers accepted by the expert panels, twenty-one papers were presented in the conference.

The session on Nehruism discussed the competing vision for shaping the contours of the newly independent Indian republic between Nehruism and the forces which claimed to be more representative of India's civilisational and cultural ethos. It was chaired by Amba Charan Vashishth, a Delhi based political commentator.

The session on Sufism chaired by Rabi Ranjan Sen, lecturer, Katwa College, West Bengal, discussed the evolution of a Hindu-Muslim syncretic culture in the Indian social, cultural and religious landscape in the medieval ages wherein the Sufis were often pitted against the "illiberal, narrow-minded" Ulema as representing the "tolerant, liberal" face of Islam. It was also argued that in this discourse perhaps it was often either forgotten or even sometime sought to be deliberately glossed over that the Sufis also effected the majority of conversions in India.

Chairing the session on Civilizational Knowledge System Dr. Ravi Prakash Arya, Vedic scholar and linguist, dwelt on the aim of the session was to explore the vast treasure of civilizational knowledge so as to initiate a process to un-lock these systems currently atrophied due to centuries of neglect and stagnation. The papers presented in the session covered a vast area ranging from Vriksha Ayurveda (Bio-botanicals) to geo-thermal energy.