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Peter Heehs is an American historian living in
Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry t ...
, India who writes on modern Indian history, spirituality and religion. Much of his work focuses on the Indian freedom fighter and spiritual leader Sri Aurobindo. His publications include twelve books and more than sixty articles in journals and magazines.


Biography

Peter Heehs was born and educated in the United States but has lived in India since 1971. He has worked in the team as a researcher at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives since its founding, and has contributed to the re-editing of the '' Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library'' and ''The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo''. As a historian, Heehs has written on the swadeshi period of the
Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
and on the early phase of the Indian revolutionary movement. His 1992 study ''The Bomb in Bengal'' highlighted the importance of the Maniktala secret society, which was a predecessor of the
Jugantar Group Jugantar or Yugantar ( bn, যুগান্তর ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushi ...
. In this book and other publications, Heehs made it clear that the Indian freedom struggle had a violent as well as a
non-violent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
side, and that the violent revolutionaries helped prepare the country psychologically for the later mass movements led by
Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
. In the second edition of ''The Bomb in Bengal'' (2004), Heehs distinguished the aims and methods of early Indian revolutionaries. Heehs has also written on problems of Indian
historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...
in ''History and Theory'', ''Postcolonial Studies'', and other journals. He has also contributed to popular magazines such as ''History Today''. As a scholar of religion, Heehs has edited the textbook ''Indian Religions'' and has contributed to journals and edited volumes dealing with new religious movements in India. He has also discussed the problems of Indian
communalism Communalism may refer to: * Communalism (Bookchin), a theory of government in which autonomous communities form confederations * , a historical method that follows the development of communities * Communalism (South Asia), violence across ethnic ...
. Heehs's ninth book, ''The Lives of Sri Aurobindo'' (Columbia University Press, 2008) was intended for scholarly readers. It received positive reviews in the United States, but was objected to by a large number of devotees of Sri Aurobindo, who have delayed the publication of the book in India. Heehs's tenth book, ''Writing the Self'', was published by Bloomsbury in February 2013. It has been named an Outstanding Academic Title for 2013 by
Choice A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate motivators and models. For example, a traveler might choose a route for a journey based on the preference of arriving at a give ...
. His eleventh book, ''Situating Sri Aurobindo: A Reader'', a collection of essays by various scholars on Sri Aurobindo's writings, with an introduction, was published by Oxford University Press in October 2013. His twelfth book, ''Spirituality without God'', was published by Bloomsbury in November 2018. Heehs was briefly in the news in April 2012 after the Indian home ministry declined to entertain an application for extension of his resident visa after April 15. Learning of the affair on March 31, Union Home Minister
P. Chidambaram Palaniappan Chidambaram (born 16 September 1945), better known as P. Chidambaram, is an Indian politician and lawyer who currently serves as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. He served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee ...
said he would review Heehs’s case. A number of prominent scholars, as well as union minister for Rural Development
Jairam Ramesh Jairam Ramesh (born 9 April 1954) is an Indian politician belonging to Indian National Congress. He is a Member of Parliament representing Karnataka state in the Rajya Sabha. In July 2011, Jairam was elevated to the Union Council of Ministers o ...
, wrote in support of Heehs to the home minister and to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Leading public intellectuals Ramachandra Guha and Pratap Bhanu Mehta wrote about the issue in their newspaper columns. On April 13, the home ministry announced that it had approved a one-year extension of Heehs’s visa. The affair became a point of reference in discussions in the Indian and international press of freedom of expression, book banning, censorship, xenophobia, and visa policy.


See also

*
Censorship in India Censorship in India has taken various forms throughout its history. Although the Constitution of India ''de jure'' guarantees freedom of expression, ''de facto'' there are various certain restrictions on content, with an official view towards ...
*
List of books banned in India This is a list of books or any specific textual material that have been or are banned in India or parts of India. Nationwide This section lists books that are banned or once faced a nationwide ban in India (including in British India). State ...


Books

* ''India's Freedom Struggle'' (1988) * ''Sri Aurobindo: A Brief Biography'' (1989) * ''Modern India and World History'' (textbook, 1991) * ''The Bomb in Bengal: The Rise of Revolutionary Terrorism in India'' (1993) * ''Essential Writings of Sri Aurobindo'' (1998) * ''Nationalism, Terrorism, Communalism: Essays in Modern Indian History'' (1998) * ''Indian Religions: A Historical Reader of Spiritual Expression and Experience'' (2002) * ''Nationalism, Religion and Beyond: Writings on Politics, Society and Culture'' (2005) * ''The Lives of Sri Aurobindo'' (2008) * ''Writing the Self: Diaries, Memoirs, and the History of the Self'' (2013) * ''Situating Sri Aurobindo: A Reader'' (2013) *''Spirituality without God'' (2018)


References


External links


Heehs in Google Scholar

Heehs's publications

Skype interview on Archive.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heehs, Peter 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers Sri Aurobindo Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American male non-fiction writers