On November 5, 2005 word leaked out to the wider academic community. Our academic colleagues in this country, many of whom are Indian American, and those in India itself, strongly objected to the historical inaccuracies championed by the Hindutva lobby. Not only were the suggested revisions of the textbooks factually incorrect in many instances but there was also an attempt to explain away those aspects of traditional Indian society that are now a matter of critical concern to Indians in India. The textbook revisions whitewash the plight of women and the so called lower castes. Their history was reduced to "different" rights and education for women while the caste system was simply a division of labor. Approximately 150 scholars, specialists on South Asia from UCLA, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Columbia, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, The University of Florida, Cornell, Smith College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and dozens of other well-respected schools, sent a letter to Dr. Ruth Green, the president of the California State Board of Education. As the full political ramifications of the fight they found themselves involved in became clearer, the CSBE paused to reconsider their course of action. Last month, in an attempt to further understand this complex issue, the CSBE asked one of us [Michael Witzel] to debate the issue in front of a few members of the board with their in house, Hindutva leaning Curriculum Committee expert, S. Bajpai. Many of the historical inaccuracies were debunked in face-to-face debate but the CSBE put off a final decision at this time.