History is the most important source we have to rely on to get acquainted with past events and developments. But the question is whether or not this source of knowledge of the past is dependable. The question assumes importance with the fact that history more often than not carries ‘cunning passages’ and takes us to ‘contrived corridors’, to cite T.S. Eliot. This ‘old man in a dry month’ further laments that it ‘deceives with whispering ambitions’ and ‘guides us by vanities’. Thanks to the powers-that-be, about a century since Eliot wrote these lines, history seems to have turned for the worse, at least for we the Indians.
As for our multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-lingual, plural nation, rewriting of history or what they love to call ‘curriculum re-structuring’, which is always done with jaundices eyes, is en vogue. Iconic, preeminent figures like Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi are being dropped from textbooks in various states. In BJP-ruled Rajasthan, Class VIII students will no longer be taught that Jawaharlal Nehru was India’s first Prime Minister, and that Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist, assassinated Mahatma Gandhi. Nehru’s name does appear in Class VIII Social Studies textbook but without the mention of his role in the freedom struggle or him being the first Prime Minister of Indian Republic. The names of other Indian National Congress leaders, including Sarojini Naidu and Madan Mohan Malaviya, are also not mentioned in the textbook. The leaders whose names have been introduced in the textbook include Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who is said to have played no role in the freedom struggle but rather sought apology from then British rulers in India.
Tripura has gone a step further. The state has dropped the Indian history of freedom struggle and is all set to teach Class 9 students the history of Marx, Hitler, Mussolini, Nazism and fascism, and the French and Russian revolutions. It has retained Mahatma Gandhi but only for his views on cricket, not as Father of the Nation or for his contribution to India’s freedom movement.
In all this political jiggery-pokery being played around rewriting of history, the ultimate casualty is of truth. With this exercise in untruth, we are going to land our future generation in the land of ignorance and perfidy. The nation will have to think whether we are making the future of the nation or marring it. It is high time the civil society came forward to save the history of India.
Let’s Save the History of India
History is the most important source we have to rely on to get acquainted with past events and developments. But the question is whether or not this source of knowledge of the past is dependable.
