Centre denies `saffronising' India history

Centre denies `saffronising' India history
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 17: Government on Thursday categorically denied the charge of its trying to "saffronise" of the Indian history even as the two noted historians, publication of whose work has been stopped by Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR), allege the move "as part of the plan to spread a distorted and fictitious history of the national movement."

Denying the allegation that the decision was taken on HRD Ministry's instigation, Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi said, "ICHR is an autonomous body. Whatever decision they take, the ministry doesn't have a say in it."

"Ministry has nothing to do with the withdrawal of the books of the two historians. Our critics have been charging us with all types of things ever since we have taken over," Joshi said when asked about Congress allegation that the move was instigated by his ministry.

Eminent historian K N Panikkar, who is one of the editors of two-volume book Towards Freedom, which is being withdrawn by ICHR, describes the step as a move by BJP to change the history as per their "perception and policy".

Warning that changing of history could have broader implications on the future generations, Panikkar said, "They want to project RSS leaders as great freedom fighters whereas the fact is that they were not even near the struggle."

"On the contrary the RSS leaders were helping the colonial regime to crush the independence move," he charged.

Sumit Sarkar, co-editor, flaying the move, challenged constitution of the review committee to go into the book and said, "What can you expect from such a committee which has not even a single historian."

ICHR had started a project Towards Freedom", which was taken up in late 1970s to chronicle the 10 years leading to Indian Independence.

Two volumes, one by Basudev Chatterjee and Parargasarathy Gupta, have already been published.

ICHR, in an order, had asked the Oxford University Press to stop publication of volumes for the year 1940 to 1946, saying that the two volumes had to be referred to a review committee.

Panikkar said the present government was trying to define India as a Hindu nation which is contrary to the fact that much of brotherhood prevailed between all communities in the pre-independence era.

"What is the need to send the volumes to a review committee as the volumes are only clubbing of facts derived from historical documents," says Panikkar.

He called for a mass movement by intellectuals to fight what he termed as an apparent move to "murder history" by the BJP government.

Pannikar said BJP-led Government was trying to curb intellectual freedom which could result in "death of independent research."