Here are excerpts from recent writings by Arun Shourie
on the doings of the old ICHR (Indian Council of Historical Research.)
Arun Shourie explains why the old ICHR needed to be reconstituted.
The Author:
Arun Shourie is among India's best- known commentators
on current and political affairs. His writings are backed by
rigorous analysis and meticulous research. He has been an
economist with the World Bank, a consultant in the
planning commision and the editor of Indian Express.
Among the many honours and awards, he has received the
Magsaysay Award, the International Editor of the Year,
the Dadabhai Naoroji and the Astor Award.
Complete text on this and related articles by Arun Shourie
can be accessed at:
http://www.indiaconnect.com/ashourie.htm
"But these [the former members of ICHR] are not just
partisan 'historians.' They are nepotists of the worst kind. I
had documented several years ago the doings of some of
them in regard to the appointments in the Aligarh Muslim
University. Their doings in the ICHR have been true to
pattern. How is it that over twenty five years persons from
their school alone have been nominated to the ICHR ? How
come that Romila Thapar has been on the Council four
times ? Irfan Habib five times ? Satish Chandra four times
? S. Gopal three times ?.... The same goes for the post of
Chairman.
"Not only are these 'historians' partisan, not only are they
nepotists, they are ones who have used State patronage to
help each other in many, many ways. Let me give two
examples, and make four specific proposals for the Ministry
-- that "nodal Ministry", remember -- which has been their
instrument in all these entrepreneurial ventures.
By a brain-wave a milch-cow was thought up : it is no use
having books only in English, these worthies, dedicated as
they were to the cause of the illiterate downtrodden Indians,
argued; we must have the works of leading historians
translated into our regional languages. And which were the
"historians" whose books -- old, in many cases out-of-date
books - got selected for translation ? R. S. Sharma : five
books. Romila Thapar : three books. Irfan Habib : two
books -- one being a collection of articles. Bipan Chandra :
two books. Muhammad Habib : three books. D. N. Jha : two
books. S. Gopal : four books. Nurul Hasan : two books....
In a word, the "historians" discovered, I am sure much to
their embarrassment, that they were themselves the leading
historians ! All these, but not Professor R. C. Majumdar !
Even sundry leaders of the Communist parties got the
honour -- E. M. S. Namboodripad, P. C. Joshi, even Rajni
Palme Dutt, the leader of the British Communist Party who
functioned as the controller and director of the Indian
Communists in the forties. As a result, the books and
pamphlets of these fellows are available in all regional
languages, but the works of even Lokmanya Tilak are not
available except in Marathi ! And that too because of the
Kesari Trust, no thanks to the ICHR.
My query is : did these persons get royalties paid to
themselves, if so how much, for the honour they had
conferred on themselves of having their books translated on
the ground that they were the leading historians of the
country -- a ground which they had prepared so well by
arranging reviews of each other's books?!
Second, in 1972, almost simultaneously with the
establishment of the ICHR, a project was launched to
collect and publish a record of the Freedom Struggle from
the Indian point of view. The British had launched their
Transfer of Power Documents series -- which deliberately
made out that the British were ever so ready to leave, and
it was only the cussedness of and discord among Indians
which delayed their doing so. The project was to be based
on Indian documents. Its budget was to be a few lakhs. Ten
volumes were to be brought out in five years.
The scholars who were to undertake the job ? Yours
forever: S. Gopal, Bipan Chandra, Ravinder Kumar, Sumit
Sarkar, Parthasarthi Gupta, Mushirul Hasan, K. N.
Panicker etc. -- in other words, the same lot of like-minded
friends !
Twenty seven years have gone by. Not a few lakhs, instead
two crores of Rupees have been spent. The project is lost in
the wilderness -- one of the major scandals of Indian
academia.
Not just that. These were leftists. At various stages, the
leftists had done their best to thwart the Freedom
Movement. Salivating at the thought that by doing so they
would attract Muslim youth to their fold, the Communist
Party had supported the demand for the Partition of India.
And so, the dedicated historians who had been conveniently
handed the project, did everything to suppress documents,
and derail volumes which could not but have brought the
facts about the left on record.
That is history. That is objective history. Not to take these
fellows back on to the ICHR is to colour it saffron.
So, my query to the Ministry is : who has got how much of
the two crores which are said to have been spent on the
Towards Freedom Project ?
Third, the ICHR has been the funnel for a larger amount of
largesse than most other academic bodies. Will the
Ministry please furnish how much money has been paid to
whom under the guise of National Fellowships and Senior
Fellowships ? And against each project for which the grant
has been disbursed, will the Ministry please indicate what
happened to the project -- with the name of the scholar in
capital letters, if that is not too much trouble ?
Fourth, the ICHR has been the conduit for patronizing
scholars through travel grants. It isn't just the foreign trip
that the grants get one. More important are the impressions
that are created : the "scholar" gets known abroad as a
leading historian of India, his drivel comes to be regarded
as the Voice of Indian History; and back home, each trip
redoubles his influence -- for one thing, by confirming the
fact that he is close to the sources of patronage. So, my
query to the Ministry is : since 1972, who has got how
much of these travel grants ?
The fabrications show that this 'secularist' tribe is on its last
legs. The answers will speed the funeral.