Sita Ram Goel

Sita Ram Goel was born on 16 October 1921 in Punjab Province of British India and spent much of his childhood in Calcutta. He came from a Hindu family whose religious tradition included devotion to the nirguna saint Garib Das. As a student, Goel was involved in social work and developed interests in Indian society, religion, and politics.

Goel studied history at the University of Delhi, graduating in 1944. During his student years, he was influenced by the Indian independence movement and was associated with social-service activities, including work connected with a Harijan ashram. His intellectual interests also included Sanskrit, philosophy, religion, and political thought.

During the 1940s, Goel developed an interest in Marxism and communism, but later became strongly critical of communist ideology. From the 1950s onward, he wrote extensively against communism and published works examining developments in the Soviet Union, China, and India. His early political writing included works such as China Is Red with Peasants' Blood and Red Brother or Yellow Slave?

Goel later concentrated increasingly on Indian civilization, Hinduism, comparative religion, and the interpretation of Indian history. He wrote from an explicitly Hindu nationalist perspective, and his views and historical interpretations have been debated and criticized as well as supported by different writers and scholars.

Among his best-known books are How I Became a Hindu, The Story of Islamic Imperialism in India, Hindu Society Under Siege, Defence of Hindu Society, History of Hindu-Christian Encounters, AD 304 to 1996, Catholic Ashrams, and Hindu Temples: What Happened to Them. His bibliography also includes writings on Indian political thought, communism, religion, and historical interpretation.

Goel was also an important publisher. Together with Ram Swarup, he founded Voice of India, a publishing initiative that focused on Hindu society, Indian civilization, religion, history, and political ideas. The organization states that it published more than one hundred books and pamphlets.

Another publishing venture associated with Goel was Biblia Impex India, founded in New Delhi in 1963 and focused on books concerning Indology, Hinduism, Buddhism, and related subjects.

Goel's intellectual legacy remains closely connected with debates over Hindu nationalism, Indian historiography, secularism, religious conversion, and interpretations of medieval Indian history. His supporters have regarded his work as an important alternative to established historical narratives, while critics have challenged aspects of his interpretations and descriptions of religious history. These differing assessments are part of the continuing discussion surrounding his writings.

Sita Ram Goel died in Delhi on 3 December 2003, aged 82. His books and the publishing work associated with Voice of India continue to be referenced in discussions of modern Hindu intellectual and political thought.