DC Debate: History in the making
It’s a blow to the spirit of research
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government’s choice to select Prof. Y. Sudershan Rao as the chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research is a historic joke. The ICHR is an autonomous organisation which was established under the Societies Registration Act (Act XXI of 1860) in 1972. The main objective of the organisation was to bring historians together to provide a forum for exchange of views between them. Its primary aim was to give a national direction to objective and scientific writing of history. The organisation’s mandate is to have a rational presentation and interpretation of history and to promote, accelerate and coordinate research work. And, above all, to elicit support and recognition for historical research from all concerned and ensure necessary dissemination and use of results.
By appointing Prof. Rao, a former head of the department of history and tourism management and dean of social sciences at the Kakatiya University in Telangana, the BJP has started saffronising institutes of repute in the country. He is a known votary of sanatan Hindu religion and his appointment has revived the old acrimonious debate between the Marxists and saffron historians.
The 67-year-old scholar’s appointment is in gross violation of the charter that created the research body. It is an irony that a minister from a political party that projected youth power in the 2014 Lok Sabha campaign decided to appoint a retired professor to this post. There are serious doubts about Prof. Rao’s professional credentials as well. He taught history and was reportedly involved in a project that would fix the date of the Mahabharat war — something that many historians maintain cannot be done scientifically.
I am told that he has published popular articles on the historicity of Indian epics, but none have appeared in any peer-reviewed journal. There is no dearth of talent in our country. This critical appointment has proved that the government wants to saffronise the ICHR. I am quite sure that the government’s next step will be to push through the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh agenda to other historic, cultural and scientific institutes.
As a vibrant democracy, it is the constitutional obligation of each and every government to keep all educational and research institutes free from any political interference. Bringing him to the historical institute like ICHR demonstrates that the RSS is dictating terms to the BJP government. If the RSS’ dominance in running the day-to-day governance continues, it is bound to create unrest.
(As told to Sanjay Kaw)
Arvinder Singh Lovely is Delhi Congress chief
It’s a planned attack by the Left brigade
The choice of Prof. Y. Sudershan Rao as Indian Council of Historical Research chief is not a joke but an attempt by the Narendra Modi government to set right the historical mistakes being committed since the time education ministry was headed by Saiyid Nurul Hasan in the early 1970s.
Since then the ICHR and Indian historical research have been dominated by historians and ideologues who are members of a mutual affection club. Prominent amongst these are historians like R.S. Sharma, D.N. Jha and Romila Thapar. They have been promoting each other while at the same time trying to disregard and discredit historians like R.C. Majumdar who have a different point of view.
The members of this mutual affection club very systematically go about destroying and discrediting the research and works of other historians, while at the same time moulding and distorting Indian history according to their views. This group — which has been dominating the scene of Indian historians since the past few decades — has done nothing but present and reinforce the West’s views about Indian history and has tried to completely discredit the Indian point of view.
They have been trying to project, for example, that India as a nation came into being only after the British rule. Because of their hold on successive governments that held power at the Centre, such distortions have also been successfully pushed through in the school and college syllabi.
Soon after the appointment of Prof. Rao as ICHR chief, this group — working at the behest of their political masters — has gone after him.
Prof. Rao, who is yet to begin his work, is being attacked. He has been targeted for being a casteist through his comments in a blog which he wrote in 2007.
We need to understand that there is a difference between being a casteist and accepting that the caste system is followed in India.
As per my interpretation, Prof. Rao has accepted that caste system was and is widely prevalent in India. He has accepted this fact and unless we also accept it, we cannot begin to tackle this problem.
Being a historian, Prof. Rao needs to understand this problem, address it and try to find a solution to successfully destroy it.
The Left brigade is attacking Prof. Rao not for his work as a historian, but for writing a blog in 2007. His credentials have not been questioned.
(As told to Nitin Mahajan)
Dr Awanijesh Awasthy is a former president of the National Democratic Teachers’ Front and associate professor, Delhi University
