Have I missed the point or is this just another article berating India, its democracy and its religion Hindusim (Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism included). Through times immemorial Hinduism has been the one battered through misinterpretation and military conquests by Islam and Christainity. The response has been to heal and carry on. Never has Hindusim sought to foist itself upon the unwilling as it believes all paths/religions lead to same God or the realisation of Godliness. Yet isolated incidents involving a small minority, where the largely docile Hindus take pre or post-emptive action (no intent to condon such action) get painted as the ugly side of Hinduism. No Jews, Muslims, Christains or Zorastrians would have survived and thrived in India without the secularism inherent in Hinduism.
Fact of the matter is such a book would have attracted a fatwa in Muslim countries or wrath of the Christain-right in Western countires if Islam or Christainity respectively had been projected unfavourably. Yet Hinduism tolerates self-criticism because it is a self-perpetuating religion which believes in corrective action and improvement over blind pursuit of dogmas or purist theology.
Perhaps non-Hindus need to better research and study Hinduism before jumping to conclusions.

Hinduism continues to justify the Indian caste system.

Why would higher caste Indians wish to rock the boat and threaten their privileged positions (that are, after all, bestowed by divine right)?

AMAK is partially right. Its true that Christians in the past cruelly oppressed Indians particularly following the (so called) Indian mutiny. White retaliation may have been one hundred fold.

Muslim terrorist bombing in India is much more frequent than in the West. Such bombing is under-reported here because it isn't happening in the West.

Yet Hinduism appears to be a genuine “opiate of the masses” which keeps lower castes uncomplaining and in check - particularly in rural Indian villages. This still is where most Indians live.

I'm under the impression that Untouchables can't complain (except through the ballet box) because caste justifying religion keeps them so far down that they can't risk complaining.

If Untouchable's get beaten up (or worse) by their "betters" in villages they have nowhere to turn - secular law won't help them.

BTW as my website would indicate I reckon I'm fairly pro Indian.

Pete
http://spyingbadthings.blogspot.com/2007/08/australian-indian-uranium-trade-hanging.html

I may be horribly naive, but I read this as a book review, amak.

>>Have I missed the point or is this just another article berating India, its democracy and its religion Hindusim (Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism included)<<

And having read the review, I thought:

i) I'll put this book on my Christmas list, and

ii) isn't it a pity we don't have any Australian writers who are capable of tackling the complexity of humanity's quirks and foibles in such a direct and challenging way

Not everything we read here on OLO is necessarily a diatribe. Sometimes there are simply interesting and enlightening articles. And although I tend to be cynical on most things religious, this struck me as commentary, rather than propaganda..