Date: Wed, 5 Aug 1998 01:02:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: Spoon Collective <spoons-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
Subject: Re: BJP-VHP-RSS Assault on Indian History (fwd)


>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Mon, 3 Aug 1998 21:28:56 -0500
>From: Shekhar Krishnan <shekhar-AT-mindspring.com>
>To: Postcolonial List <postcolonial-AT-lists.village.Virginia.EDU>
>Subject: BJP-VHP-RSS Assault on Indian History
>
>Friends --
>
>Read on below. To add your name to this petition -- which will be
>circulated in the expatriate Indian media as well as within India, and
>copies sent to the President of India and official agencies -- send an
>e-mail to Vijay Prashad at vijay.prashad-AT-mail.cc.trincoll.edu.
>
>Please forward this petition as far and wide as possible.
>
>Regards,
>
>
>
>Shekhar
>
>______
>
>HINDUTVA'S ASSAULT ON HISTORY (21 July 1998)
>
>In early June 1998, the Bharatiya Janata Party's [BJP] Minister of 
Human
>Resource Development, Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi reconstituted the Indian
>Council of Historical Research [ICHR], a major academic body 
constituted on
>27 March 1972 that comprises reputed historians and archaeologists.  
This
>27-member council was constituted as an *autonomous* body with the 
mandate
>of setting high standards of research for the writing of Indian 
history.
>It currently operates under the Department of Education of the Human
>Resource Development Ministry, administers several historical projects
>(such as the "Towards Freedom" research and publication ventures), 
awards
>various fellowships and scholarships, and provides leadership for 
research
>in the disciplines of history, archaeology and so forth.  Indian
>historiography and Indian historians have built a globally high 
reputation
>over the last few decades but recent events have led us to fear the 
erosion
>of that legacy.  As it is the World Archaeological Congress earlier
>censured two prominent members of the new ICHR.  We urge that the ICHR 
be
>reconstituted with its scholarly and secular credentials intact.
>
>The erosion of this legacy will take place very quickly if rigorous
>academic work is allowed to be replaced by partisan agendas and
>unsubstantiated "scholarship." In the last few months, the BJP-led
>government has appointed a new council with members whose goal is to
>legitimate and entrench a narrow Hindutva ["Hinduness"] version of 
history.
>They subscribe to the dubious and unsubstantiated BJP views on such
>contentious issues as the mosque-temple at Ayodhya.  Further, there is
>every indication that the new ICHR will subordinate its historical 
research
>to the values of Hindutva and the whims of the Sangh Parivar.  Some
>appointees of the ICHR already serve the interests of the Sangh Parivar
>rather than their scholarship:
>
>*	Professor B. B. Lal, former director general of Archaeological
>Survey of India, recently published the academically weak and 
unscholarly
>book, *The earliest civilization of South Asia: rise, maturity and 
decline*
>(Aryan Books, 1997). Interestingly, when Lal headed an archeological 
survey
>of Ayodhya since 1975 he did not mention any evidence of a temple in 
the
>environs of the Babri Masjid.  In the October 1990 issue of a Rashtriya
>Swayamsevak Sangh magazine (*Manthan*), he made the surprising and
>unconvincing claim that the site contains pillar-bases of a temple.
>Professor Lal refuses to share the findings of his "research," a basic
>professional requirement if these "findings" are to be proven and 
rigorous
>standards of research are to be upheld.  We, therefore, question the
>credentials of such "scholars" and their worthiness to sit on reputable
>bodies such as the ICHR.
>
>*	Professor Kishori Saran Lal, who although once wrote worthwhile
>works of history such as *History of the Khiljis* (Allahabad: Indian 
Press,
>1950) and *Twilight of the Sultanate* (New York: Asia Publishing House,
>1963), has recently focused almost exclusively on the alleged 
historical
>injuries and injustices suffered by Hindus.  His recent books, all
>published by presses that have specialized in putting forward the 
Hindutva
>agenda, include inflammatory and unscholarly works such as *Indian 
Muslims:
>Who Are They* (New Delhi: Voice of India, 1990) and *Growth of 
Scheduled
>Tribes and Castes in Medieval India* (New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 
1995).
>He has justified the Hindutva takeover of the ICHR by incorrectly 
claiming
>that the body has always been dominated by historians of Left-wing
>persuasion.  We assert that inflammatory individuals with a bigoted 
agenda
>have no place on a reputed academic council.
>
>Four of the 18 new nominees were part of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's 
[World
>Hindu Council] panel of historians that strove to establish the 
existence
>of a Ram temple at the site of the Babri Masjid.  Another five were 
closely
>associated with the Sangh Parivar's efforts to discredit the viewpoints 
of
>more rigorous and respected scholars.
>
>* ICHR has not been dominated by Leftist historians, since earlier 
councils
>included some historians who have subscribed to mild forms of Hindutva
>(such as B. R. Grover and M. G. S. Narayanan, both on the new team, but
>also veterans of earlier ICHRs).  The councils prior to the current one 
may
>be defined less by their Leftism and more by their commitment to a 
secular
>and scientific attitude.
>
>* The changes at the ICHR reflect disturbing departures from unwritten
>customs as well as written mandates.  As Professor R. S. Sharma (first
>chair of the ICHR) points out, no members have been renominated from 
the
>outgoing council (a custom to ensure continuity).
>
>* In light of the ICHR reconstitution, we and many others fear an 
impending
>assault on the National Council for Educational Research and Training
>[NCERT].  In some states of India ruled by the BJP (Rajasthan and Uttar
>Pradesh), textbooks have already been changed to suit Hindutva
>historiography; now it seems the national agency in charge of pedagogy 
is
>also to be seconded to the Hindutva cause. A top NCERT official reports
>that he has been scolded by a BJP Union Minister for following a 
"useless"
>history syllabus in the national textbooks.  The Minister reportedly 
said
>that things will soon change.  This arbitrary and illegitimate attempt 
to
>disseminate biases is unacceptable and is no different from British
>colonial attempts to control our minds through controlling our history 
and
>our education.  The BJP government does not have the mandate to destroy 
our
>educational system and poison young minds.
>
>* Similar concern has also been expressed over the future of the Indian
>History Congress [IHC], a reputed national forum for historians that
>discusses current historical research at its annual conventions.  The 
Sangh
>Parivar made an unsuccessful attempt to take over the body at the 
Ujjain
>conference in 1991.  Some 360 persons associated with the various
>organization of the Parivar tried to become "life-members" and sought 
to
>induct their own people as new IHC members by using the "life-member"
>privileges.  However, the IHC defeated this move by amending its rules 
of
>membership.  We fear that the BJP government will try to promote Sangh
>Parivar outfits such as the Bharatiya Ithihaas Sankalan Samiti and the
>Wakakanakar Trust, etc., at the expense of established and reputable
>organizations such as the ICHR and the ICH.  These are national
>organizations which should not become the jagir of a sectarian and 
communal
>group.
>
>Given the above disturbing trend, we, the undersigned historians,
>researchers, teachers, activists, and others, condemn the 
reconstitution of
>the ICHR along the lines of Hindutva, and oppose the threat posed to 
the
>normal functioning of the NCERT, IHC and other such research and
>educational bodies.
>
>*	We demand that the ICHR be reconstituted again with reputed secular
>historians who would set high objective standards for research and the
>teaching of history.
>
>*	We demand that the ICHR adhere to scientific standards of inquiry
>and that it not be made to serve the interests of the government or the
>ruling BJP or allies.
>
>*	We demand that the academic integrity and autonomy of the research
>and educational bodies such as the NCERT and the IHC be respected, and
>financial and other support to these bodies be sustained.
>
>*	We alert our fellow citizens, Non-Resident Indians, and people of
>Indian origin all over the world to the travesty of the BJP-led 
government
>and its blatant communal and fascistic agenda.  Let us not imagine
>complacently that this virulence may be checked by the "moderate" 
elements
>in the Sangh Parivar.  Those who are pledged to secular and scientific
>values and to the progress of our nation must join together to condemn 
and
>combat these maneuvers that will only set us back at a time when we 
must
>move forward.
>
>S. P. Udayakumar
>Raju Rajan
>Priya Gopal
>Vijay Prashad
>Biju Mathew
>Mir Ali Raza
>Harsh Kapoor
>Mir Ali Hussain
>Basav Sen
>Sangeeta Kamat
>Sunaina Maira
>Parag Khandhar
>Subir Sinha
>Rashmi Varma
>Amitava Kumar
>Vijay Iyer
>Nikhil Aziz
>Sonali Sathaye
>Sreenivas Paruchuri
>Pratyush B.
>Indira Ravindran
>Vandana Singh
>Jayanta Dey
>Maya Yagnik
>Raju Sivasankaran
>Aparna Sindoor
>Satish Kolluri
>Sangeeta Rao
>Jigna Desai
>Sonia Shah
>Alice Clark
>G. Ramakrishnan
>Shekhar Krishnan
>Phiroze Vasunia
>Pritri Ramamurthy
>Ali Kazimi
>S. Shankar
>B. Skanthakumar
>Kaleem Kawaja
>Shubra Gururani
>Richard Braxstrom
>Pinaki Chaudhuri
>Partha Joarder
>Dhiman Chatterjee
>
>_____
>
>Shekhar Krishnan
>1305, Potomac Street, NW
>Apt.204
>Washington, DC 20007
>U.S.A.
>
>School of Oriental & African Studies
>University of London
>Centre for South Asian Area Studies
>Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square
>London WC1H 0XG
>U.K.
>
>
>


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