Distortion of fact

Sir, - Mr. S. N. Krishna Prasad's letter (Nov. 20) wherein he has stated that ``... the Aryans are indeed indigenous people of Harappan land of the Indus Civilisation,'' is completely distorted.

Prof. Asko Parpola, Professor of the Department of Asian and African studies, University of Helsinki, a leading authority on the Indus Civilisation and Indus Script and Religion in his book Deciphering the Indus Script and Religion has presented numerous facts suggesting that the Harappans in the Indus Valley (year 2600-1900 before Christ) mainly spoke a Dravidian language. The professor adds that a small number of Aryan speakers infiltrated into the valley in the last phase of the Indus Civilisation. These Aryans, he says, came from Eurasiatic steppes through Central Asia. Eventually the infiltrated minority's language prevailed over the majority just as, he adds, there are numerous parallels to such a development like the Spanish language overtaking the native American languages almost the whole of South America.

Of late, the `Indus Civilisation' has become the centre for heated discussion in various journals and Websites after the publication of a book by a retired U.S. Engineer (N. S. Rajaram), co-authored by Dr. Natwar Jha, The Deciphered Indus Script. Michael Witzel, a Harvard University Indologist and Steve Farmer, a comparative historian, have dubbed the finding of Jha and N. S. Rajaram as fraud and anti-scientific; the latter tried to explain in their book that the Aryans are indigenous in that valley.

M.R.A. Xavier,

Tuticorin (TN)

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Opinion
Previous : Ceasefire offer
Next     : Much needed scheme