Plagiarism by Nilabh Mishra, Outlook Weekly

The write-up What Caste Is A Nobel? by Neelabh Mishra (Outlookindia.Com, October 26, 2009) is disingenuous and plagiarised for at least two reasons.

One, the author gives the impression as though none other than the author thought about the Brahminical `twist’. Read this Sentence:

“I am surprised how nobody here has yet courted controversy with the Brahminical ‘twist’ to the Nobel, considering that out of the six Nobel winners of Indian origin, four are Brahmins, of whom three are Tamil Brahmins.’

The fact is that the rediff.com published a lengthy interview with an Indian sociologist on October 12, 2009 under the title 'Brahmins dominate all modern professions' (see http://news.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/oct/12/slide-show-1-brahmins-dominate-all-modern-professions.htm). It has been picked up by various websites and sections of the media in different parts of the world. At the time of writing this I see as many as 18,900 related hyperlinks on the Internet,

Two, the author feigns ignorance of this interview in the claim “I am surprised how nobody...” and goes on:

“No one will be so facetious as to argue for a Dalit and obc quota in Nobel prizes based on this fact, but some genetic supremacists will latch on to it to insinuate that some communities are congenitally more advanced than others, what with another fact that most Nobel prize winners have been Jews. But it is not genetics, it is cultural capital, which in a hierarchical order is concentrated at the top and is a result of various historical factors and contexts, that explains the apparent correlation between communities and achievement. Cultural capital gets transmitted from generation to generation and over generations, which makes its recipients well-entrenched. Intelligence is distributed across all sections of society, but opportunities are not. So it is with geography. There are plain historical reasons as to why most Nobel winners in India are from the upper castes of Tamil Nadu and Bengal.”

Compare the above paragraph with the following portions of the rediff.com interview.

“We also see a co-relation between the Nobel Prize and Jews as most of the Nobel Prize winners are from a Jewish background. Nevertheless, we cannot overlook the crucial importance of cultural capital in intellectual achievements; and virtually all the Nobel Prize winners possessed cultural capital.
In one sense, you can use the genes theory -- genetically some groups are advanced. But that may not happen in a hierarchical society, and ours has always been a hierarchical society.”
Why do you say that in a hierarchical society, the gene theory won't work?
It can only happen randomly. In a hierarchical society, the cultural capital is concentrated at the top. Brahmins are at the summit of the social hierarchy. So, they had all the advantages of society traditionally, though they may not be having the same advantages now.
CULTURAL CAPITAL GETS TRANSMITTED FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION AND OVER GENERATIONS, THIS TRANSMISSION MAKES ITS RECIPIENTS WELL-ENTRENCHED... UNIVERSALLY, INTELLIGENCE IS DISTRIBUTED ACROSS THE ENTIRE SOCIETY. BUT OPPORTUNITIES ARE NOT.
The sentences above are given in capital letters to highlight that they are also there in the Neelabh Mishra write-up. What a shame! Will Vinod Mehta pay attention to this, publish an explanation and apology, and contain the damage before I take up the issue with the larger print and electronic media?