08-27-2006, 09:57 PM
<!--emo&:furious--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/furious.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='furious.gif' /><!--endemo--> Reference to Jats in books correct: Bipan
[ 27 Aug, 2006 1053hrs ISTPTI ]
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NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding objections by various activists who took the matter to the Supreme Court, noted historian Bipan Chandra on Sunday said references made to the Jat community in NCERT books written by him are "correct and based on historical facts" ratified by an expert committee.
"The reference is based on facts which are part of history. And many other eminent historians have endorsed these facts," Chandra told.
Taking strong exception to some portions dealing with Jats, the Siksha Bachao Andolan Samiti and Delhi Pradesh Citizens Council moved the Supreme Court seeking deletion of certain portions from the NCERT textbooks of Antra Part I for class XI and Modern India for class XII for allegedly offending the sentiments of the community.
One of the controversial passages said "for some periods under the leadership of Jat zamindars, the peasantry which rose in rebellion against the social condition took to plunder in the period when law and order was breaking down all over northern India."
"I had written the book in 1969. The book was scrutinised word by word by an expert committee appointed by the government in 1967. The committee did not find anything objectionable in the book," said Chandra, also Chairman of the National Book Trust.
The expert committee comprised Prof S Gopal, Prof Nurul Hasan, Prof R S Sharma and Prof Romila Thapar.
"These people were eminent scholars of history. Neither I nor any of the committee members can be accused of casteism or communalism. All of us have fought against
"The question of hurting any caste or community does not arise as far as I and these experts are concerned," he said.
Describing the criticism of his books as "baseless", Chandra said, "A historian cannot go on praising everything of the past. He has to bring out the weaknesses of the past so that we may avoid them now."
Chandra said he has also appreciated Surajmal Jat, the founder of Bharatpur state, in the book.
"Jat power reached its highest glory under Surajmal Jat, an extremely able administrator and soldier and a very wise statesman," he said citing passages from his book.
"Though he (Surajmal) wore the dress of a farmer and could speak only Braj dilect, he was the Plato of the Jat tribe. In prudence and skill, he had no equal among the grandees of Hindustan," he added.
The book says that "though originally a peasant uprising, the Jat revolt under the zamindars soon became predatory."
But Chandra said all these references were based on historical facts which cannot be disputed by anybody.
Eminent historians like Prof Jadunath Sarkar and Sardesai have written the same thing in their books, he said.
[ 27 Aug, 2006 1053hrs ISTPTI ]
RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding objections by various activists who took the matter to the Supreme Court, noted historian Bipan Chandra on Sunday said references made to the Jat community in NCERT books written by him are "correct and based on historical facts" ratified by an expert committee.
"The reference is based on facts which are part of history. And many other eminent historians have endorsed these facts," Chandra told.
Taking strong exception to some portions dealing with Jats, the Siksha Bachao Andolan Samiti and Delhi Pradesh Citizens Council moved the Supreme Court seeking deletion of certain portions from the NCERT textbooks of Antra Part I for class XI and Modern India for class XII for allegedly offending the sentiments of the community.
One of the controversial passages said "for some periods under the leadership of Jat zamindars, the peasantry which rose in rebellion against the social condition took to plunder in the period when law and order was breaking down all over northern India."
"I had written the book in 1969. The book was scrutinised word by word by an expert committee appointed by the government in 1967. The committee did not find anything objectionable in the book," said Chandra, also Chairman of the National Book Trust.
The expert committee comprised Prof S Gopal, Prof Nurul Hasan, Prof R S Sharma and Prof Romila Thapar.
"These people were eminent scholars of history. Neither I nor any of the committee members can be accused of casteism or communalism. All of us have fought against
"The question of hurting any caste or community does not arise as far as I and these experts are concerned," he said.
Describing the criticism of his books as "baseless", Chandra said, "A historian cannot go on praising everything of the past. He has to bring out the weaknesses of the past so that we may avoid them now."
Chandra said he has also appreciated Surajmal Jat, the founder of Bharatpur state, in the book.
"Jat power reached its highest glory under Surajmal Jat, an extremely able administrator and soldier and a very wise statesman," he said citing passages from his book.
"Though he (Surajmal) wore the dress of a farmer and could speak only Braj dilect, he was the Plato of the Jat tribe. In prudence and skill, he had no equal among the grandees of Hindustan," he added.
The book says that "though originally a peasant uprising, the Jat revolt under the zamindars soon became predatory."
But Chandra said all these references were based on historical facts which cannot be disputed by anybody.
Eminent historians like Prof Jadunath Sarkar and Sardesai have written the same thing in their books, he said.