'In theory, yes, Hindus are very open. I'm one of them. I've coined the phrase 'open architecture'.

''But I think the Wendy Doniger group is not allowing open architecture. They are closing this architecture.

'They are bringing a point of view in such a heavy-handed way that it tends to dominate and it tends to suppress the alternative points of view. So some kind of counteraction is necessary and using the law is a decent thing to do."

Rajiv Malhotra, one of Wendy Doniger's most vociferous critics, speaks toRediff.com's Arthur J Pais about the prejudices created by American scholars about Hindu gods and Hinduism. Read