Author: Our Special Correspondent
Publication: The Hindu
Date: November 29, 2002
URL: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002/11/29/stories/2002112903580700.htm
The Lieutenant Governor of Pondicherry,
K.R. Malkani, today claimed that a committee appointed by the Congress
in 1931 had recommended that the colour of the flag of independent India
should be saffron.
Inaugurating a national seminar
on ``early resistance to the British rule with reference to Pazhassi Raja'',
Mr. Malkani said it was a committee consisting of eminent nationalists
such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel, which made the recommendation.
How come saffron colour now evoked
protests from some quarters?, he wondered.
The `flag committee', in its report
to the party leadership, recommended that the national flag should be saffron
in colour with a blue ``chakra'' on top, and had justified its choice of
colour saying saffron was non-communal and had deep affiliations with Indian
culture and traditions. "We do not know why this report was dumped,'' Mr.
Malkani said.
The Lieutenant Governor also expressed
surprise at Muslims associating saffron colour with Hinduism and green
colour with their religion. "All colours were made by the God,'' he said.
Mr. Malkani said that in South Korea, Koran is published in saffron colour.
Some venerated Muslim religious
leaders were also known to have carried saffron flags. "People should be
educated on these matters.''
Mr. Malkani also called for writing
a people's history of India since what was available in history books at
present were "stories penned by the British about India and not true history''.
He emphasised the need to rewrite
history books from an Indian perspective, saying "rewriting Indian history
from Indian perspective is not saffronisation, as some have chosen to describe
it. It is actually nationalisation of history.''
Quoting Lord Curzon, he said that
the various theories put forward in history books available now were the
"furniture of the empire''. It was time "to furnish history books with
furniture made in India.''
Mr. Malkani, a former Editor of
Organiser, spoke of the several ``myths'' which, he said, were concocted
by the British. In his view, the theories of invasion and subjugation of
the country by Aryans, Muslims, and Alexander the Great, were fabricated
by British historians to justify their colonisation of India and create
an impression that India had always been under foreign occupation.
The battles against the British
by patriots such as Pazhassi Raja were not known to many since these did
not figure in the history books for which the inspiration came from the
British.
The British historians projected
Asoka as India's greatest ,<170>king since he believed in non-violence
even though he was partial to Budhists.
"The greatest Emperor India saw
was Vikramaditya. But the British did not like him because he fought and
won many wars.''The Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research,
M.G.S. Narayanan, stressed that though Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja was the
first to organise the people to wage wars against the British, his contributions
as a freedom fighter had not been recognised by historians.
Mr. Narayanan spoke of the way history
was being distorted. "Communal historians have been trying to glorify Tippu
Sultan and belittle Pazhassi Raja. Communist historians have also contributed
their mite to denigrate Pazhassi.''
The seminar was organised jointly
by the Indian Council of Historical Research, (ICHR), Nehru Yuva Kendra
Sanghatana and the Zamorin's Guruvayurappan College.
