Author:
Publication: Aseemaa
Date: February 2002
History books need to be rewritten
because they are both obsolete and have material that are inappropriate
for schoolchildren," says Dr. N.S. Rajaram. "Books written 25 or 30 years
ago are using discredited material like the Aryan invasion. In all this
there appears to be a consistent anti-national, colonial bias masquerading
as 'objective,' and even 'Marxist,' as if they have a monopoly on objectivity
and scholarship. The truth is they have produced nothing original in more
than 30 years, with most important advances coming from outsiders. We need
a change of guard. Navaratna S. Rajaram is one of the most influential
historians of our time. In his work he brings to bear his scientific training
along with knowledge of several Indian and European languages, including
Sanskrit and Dravidian languages. He is best known for his work on Vedic
India, especially the decipherment of the Indus script with Natwar Jha,
which they have now extended to all the seals. He has worked with David
Frawley showing that the Vedic civilization had a southern component, which
contributed significantly to its language and literature. V.A. Gopala interviewed
him in Bangalore.
Gopala: We are hearing that the
NCERT guidelines amount to Talibanization of history books. What do you
feel?
Rajaram: This is typical of the
hyperbole and scare tactics used by people when they run out of facts and
logic. Then they try to shout you down with slogans. If there is any Talibanization,
it is coming from the 'secularist' side.
Gopala: How do you mean? Can you
give any example?
Rajaram: In Bangalore, every English
daily has been vandalized by Muslim activists as one pretext or another.
And each time the newspaper management has come out with an apology. Can
you imagine the victim apologizing to the attacker? In a recent incident,
the children's section of a national newspaper had a cartoon of Prophet
Mohammed. A local 'minority' politician used it as a pretext to incite
violence. Some 'secular' MPs even wanted the paper banned! The really absurd
things is that the front page of the issue, which contained the apology
to the vandals, also had a column attacking re-writing of history. And
the same week, a Russian film depicting the last days of Lenin was banned
in Kolkotta following violent objections by Communists.
These 'secularists' were the same
people who defended the 'artistic freedom' of M.F. Husain's paintings of
Hindu goddesses and Deepa Mehta's film insulting Hindu widows. Apparently
this artistic freedom doesn't extend to the artist who drew the cartoon
of Mohammed or the maker of the film 'The Last Days of Lenin.'
Gopala: What is behind such behavior?
Rajaram: There are two causes.
First of course is legitimate fear- that it is safe to insult Hinduism,
but Muslims may get violent on the slightest pretext. And they have encouraged
violent reactions by buckling to the demands each time. Fear of violent
backlash makes them bend over backwards, pandering to antisocial elements.
When editors and writers take such positions, people assume that it is
guided by fear.
Gopala: What is the second cause?
Rajaram: Alienation brought about
by colonial mentality of intellectuals. Most of them were educated at so-called
'Westernized' institutions, which are not Westernized at all. They are
really seminaries that project a colonial view of their own history and
culture-that Indian people (including themselves) and their culture are
inferior to the West. This was created by European rulers to make Indians,
especially the elite feel inferior.
Gopala: This is a very strong charge.
Can you give any examples'?
Rajaram: Certainly! You remember
the recent controversy in Leftist circles following the publication my
book with Jha on the Indus script. It was mainly a personal attack with
charges of fabricating a horse seal. It is a different story that horse
remains have been found at Harappan sites all over the place. But the interesting
thing is that this secularist historian, who is presented as India's foremost
authority on ancient India had to drag in two Westerners, one of them a
California computer programmer to attack me! Why couldn't she do it herself
in a proper, scholarly manner?
It was the same story with another
secularist eminence. He went to Canada and America to complain about 'saffronization'
of history. They still think that the West should tell Indians how to write
their history. Because they are trapped in a colonial mindset and inferiority
complex, they feel everyone should be the same way.
Gopala: Has this led to a Marxist
bias in history books?
Rajaram: Their Marxism is just
a cover. What is really at work is a slavish mindset that wants to retain
their umbilical cord to colonial masters. Note that Indian Communists-both
politicians and academics- have always been anti-national and procolonial.
They accepted money from the British Government to spy on national leaders
like Subhas Bose and Jayaprakash. They supported Pakistan and even the
Razkars in Hyderabad. Later they supported China's attack on India. They
supported Chinese nuclear tests but opposed India's Pokharan tests. Now
their main agenda is to sabotage India's improving relationship with America
in the war against terrorism.
These people cannot be compared
to other Asian Marxist leaders like Ho Chi Min or Mao who fought against
European colonialism. Indian Marxists are anti-national parasites always
looking for a host organism to feed on. Their history is of the same kind-
always glorifying invaders and colonial rulers resulting in low standards.
Gopala: How do you mean?
Rajaram: Just look at their contribution
in ancient history. Their leading light doesn't even know Sanskrit. The
whole group has made no significant contribution to ancient history in
forty years. The last significant scholar was the late D.D. Kosambi and
he was an outsider. The others are rehashing old stuff like the Aryan invasion
with new names like the Aryan migration. They have totally missed the Vedic
Harappan connection that unifies Harappan archaeology and the Vedic literature.
This is the major development of our time but the secularists' have nothing
to show.
Even their criticism is political
and colonial rather than scholarly. International conferences have been
organized to discuss the Vedic-Harappan connection, but they avoid them.
They should present concrete evidence to support their viewpoints. Instead
they run to political platforms like SAHMAT making political statements
or get foreigners to attack Hinduism using slogans like 'saffronization'
and Talibanization.'
Gopala: What about the NCERT controversy,
about negative portrayals?
Rajaram: It is an extension of
the same mindset-placing self-preservation above scholarship and education.
Note that NCERT is concerned about school curriculum-not college or research
issues. So we should take into consideration that we are dealing with young
minds that are sensitive and impressionable. We should be careful to balance
the good with the bad, but at the same time avoid issues that are controversial
or unnecessary. To take an example, is it proper to teach children that
the Vedic people ate beef when the issue is still controversial? As far
as I am concerned it's trivial. On the other side, it would be proper to
talk about the discovery of the Vedic Sarasvati and the Vedic symbols found
in Harappan archaeology but premature to discuss the decipherment of the
Indus script. These are topics for special projects and research.
What concerns me even more is the
deliberate campaign to hurt Hindu and Sikh feelings. It is OK to point
out drawbacks like untouchability, destruction of temples by Islamic invaders
and the Goa Inquisition. It is part of history. But to attack the Sikh
Guru Teg Bahadur based on a single dubious source shows a meanness of spirit
with the intent to hurt children's feelings. In that case why not bring
up negative things about Prophet Mohammed? Like how he had the poetess
Asma bint Marawan murdered when she was sleeping with her child for criticizing
him? Or how he made his adopted son divorce his young wife so he could
marry her? Similarly, why not highlight the fact that some Renaissance
Popes led horrible lives and were guilty of incest? Should we tell all
these to children'?
The basic problem is that the history
establishment has fallen into the hands of self-serving people of weak
scholarship but bitterly resentful of losing the privileged positions they
enjoyed because of their colonial orientation. Now with the national spirit
on the rise, political freedom is being followed by intellectual freedom.
These people, always used to protective political masters are unable cope
with the change.
