Title: Towards Freedom
Project
Author: Rakesh
Sinha
Publication: Newstime,
Hyderabad
Date: April 20, 2000
The excruciating polemics
over the historiography of the freedom struggle is not far fetched. It
is somewhat an extension of the dichotomy between the Marxist and liberal-
nationalist historians in their interpretations of ancient and medieval
Indian history. However, unlike them, the present debate is bound to create
wider horizon of participation and interest since the history of the anti
-colonial struggle is very much rooted in the nostalgia of the four main
ideological or political groupings, the Congress, Communists, socialists
and the RSS.
The role of the masses
is no less important in influencing the historiography of the country.
In the Indian context it can be well argued that the sentiment and actual
experiences of the Indian people perhaps forced the Marxist historians
to make a retreat from their earlier position in evaluating historical
personalities and their actions, like, Swami Vivekananda, Bal Gangadhar
Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Sub hash Chancre Base, Jay Parkas Aryan, et.
al. Thus the limitations of their ideological predisposition in turning
and twisting modern Indian history led them to manipulate facts to suit
their ideological presumptions. Exactly the same was done by the
Marxist historians in the "Towards Freedom", a project under the
Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) to compile the archival documents
of freedom struggle from the year 1937 to 1947.
One volume covering the
year 1943-44, hours of the Quit India movement, edited by Prof. P.S. Gupta,
for instance, contains 150 selective documents on the Communist Party of
India(CPI). The 120 pages report submitted to the colonial government
by the CPI and the confidential correspondence
between the party General secretary P.C. Joshi and the British Home department
were suppressed. Thus documents were subjectively selected and edited
to glorify its role! Significantly the CPI, which was banned between 1934
to 1942, was legalised at the eve of the August revolution. While the entire
nation was facing severe British repression, and the British targeted all
volunteer organisations, including the RSS , who refused to join the Civic
Guard, ARP and army to help the British war efforts, the communists were
free birds. The symbiotic relationship between the Indian communists
and the British colonialism was both unjustifiable and unpardonable.
And the historians of the Marxist ilk have been trying to cover up communist
betrayal by stressing on peasants or trade union movements,
or projecting it as only 'genuine' anti -Fascist. Madhu Limaye , a veteran
socialist, wrote in 1951("CPI: Facts and Fictions") , "The communist
activities throughout the August struggle of 1942-45 were directed towards
active sabotage of people's resistance to imperialist tyranny and opposition
to struggle in every form , vilification of all patriots and progressives
and lastly the support in the name of the right of self determination of
all tendencies, which sought to disintegrate the country." Even the CPI
(ML) Liberation , dared to concede the "historic blunder" by their ideological
forefathers during the freedom movement. It seems that the Marxist historians
have been working on behest of the Communist International, now extinct,
than the ICHR .
Absolute patronage had
been provided to them by the Nehruvian state on the quid pro quo
basis. The successive education ministers in the center from Narul
Hasan to S.R. Bomai had been custodian of their interest and they,
in turn, vouched Centrists and Congress politicians as 'secular'
and 'progressive.' It underpinned them to establish an absolute control
over all academic and research institutes. As Bipan Chandra wrote in 1992,
"For the last 25 years or so historians of broad left orientation
have had large presence in the leadership of the History Congress".
Their ignominious silence to well documented book by Arun Shourie, "Eminent
Historians Their Technology, Their Line, Their Fraud," exposing the misuse
of patronage is conspicuous. Shourie wrote about them , "Can
you walk off with six lakh seventy five thousand and not submit a thing
in return? The eminent historians can. Can you promise to produce six volumes
on Economic History, get a governmental institution to disburse the dough,
produce nothing, have the project disappear from the reader screen, and
just a while from the same institution to fork out another nineteen lakhs-
this time seventeen volumes on the same subject, and still produce nothing?...can
you stretch over twenty seven years a project which was have been to be
completed in five, can you have the government defray close to two crores,
when it had set the cost at a few lakhs...?" Any question of ideological
predisposition or irregularities on their part provoke them to harp it
as a 'saffron conspiracy'. The saffron upsurge is more painful to
them than the political parties ousted from the power. Another folly
has been their presumption that the talents and academic pursuit do not
exist outside the Marxist-Nehruvian orbit. Their delusions were somewhat
based on their own iron handedly suppression of the liberal -nationalist
school represented by (KM)Munshi- (RC) Majumdar-(Jadunath) Sarkar . Two
foreign scholars Mr. J.A Curran Jr and Criag Baxter worked
on the RSS and the Jan Sangh in the 50's. It led the Sampradayikata
Virodhi Committee of Subhadra Joshi, whose publications have been authoritatively
quoted by the Marxists social scientists, to publish, "American Interest
in RSS", in 1973. It slandered the RSS for its alleged CIA link.
It was during the Ram
Janmabhoomi movement in 90's they confronted with the assertive nationalist
historians and archeologists. The evidences produced by Dr. S P Gupta
,formerly director of Allahabad museum, and has been General Secretary
of the Indian Archaeological society, and Prof. B.B. Lal ,both of them
were associated with the Archaeology of Ramayana sites, approved by Prof.
Narul Hasan the then education minister, coincided with the VHP's
claim. The Marxist historians retorted it rather polemically
in "Political abuse of History." When A. R. Khan of HP university accused
them for distorting facts the Marxists denounced Khan allegedly for his
, " inability to comprehend the language" of their argument, and
rushing in "where angels fear to tread" . Mr. Mahmud K. K., Dy. Superintending
Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India, Madras circle, blamed them
for suppressing the facts of their findings. All of them were
accused as "VHP turncoats" by the Marxist historians. It is perhaps that
only Marxist can tell when B.B. Lal, S.K. Lal or A.R. Khan took Sangh
training? It is an indicative that the RSS perspective of history brings
it closer to the nationalist spirit of Majumdar-Munshi-Sarkar . As
M. S. Golwalkar, second RSS chief says ,"histories have to be studied
not only of blind faith and regard for all that our predecessors did, but
to know and understand their good points and failings, the rights and using
of their policies and practice of the same , the virtue and vices they
manifested and to take inspiration and guidance from what is best and a
lesson from what they lacked in, to avoid all that resulted in failures
and frustrations and thus proceed more unerringly on the path of progress."
Ironically Marxist historians
who clamoured against the liberals for their 'partisan' role
themselves acted as apologists of the Babri Masjid Action
Committee. Several of them offered themselves as witnesses on behalf
of the Sunni Waqf Board in the courts considering Ayodhya matter. It included
Prof. R.S. Sharma (witness number 63), D N Jha ( No. 65), Romilla
Thapar (No. 66), Irfan Habib (No. 70) K M Shrimali (No. 95)
Sumit Sarkar (No. 101) and others. It is not their scholarship but its
conscious use by them to question the cultural nationalism which
is disputable. They are the victims of their own obsession with metaphysical
ideological mould. They are thus like Shakaracharya, who used
his tapa and sadhana not for construction but destruction.
(Author teaches political
Science in Delhi University)
