03-22-2005, 06:06 AM
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1288040,0008.htm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Don't spread fantasy in name of history: Irfan Habib
Manish Chand (Indo-Asian News Service)
Aligarh, March 20, 2005|11:41 IST
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Re-writing of history and distortions in its teaching must stop once and for all, says scholar extraordinaire and eminent historian Irfan Habib.
"Interpretations can differ but facts are facts. This doesn't mean history must be rewritten all the time," Habib told IANS in an interview here.
"Several matters in history are in dispute. But the larger area of history is not in dispute. History, like any other discipline, has a large area of agreement where facts are established," insists Habib, former chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR).
Lashing out at the 'saffronisation' of history textbooks and research during the BJP dispensation under former human resource development minister Murli Manohar Joshi, Habib, former professor and head of the Centre for Advanced Study at the Aligarh Muslim University, forcefully defends historical methods against what he calls the "peddlers of fantasy."
"The BJP historiography is contrary to facts according to established historical methods," says the distinguished historian, who has acted as a secular gatekeeper against political assaults on history-writing.
"These BJP historians have been wilfully distorting history and are spreading fantastic notions. <b>Anyone who says Upanishads had influenced Greek philosophy is fit for a lunatic asylum</b>," says Habib, his voice quivering with rage against myth-making by political ideologues.
<b>"Their bias is evident in double standards they use to present medieval India as a period of disgrace and foreign rule. They like to portray ancient India as the perfect society</b>," says Habib, the author of "The Agrarian System of Mughal India." Published in the 1960s, the book immediately became a classic and shows Habib's skills as a researcher and a historian with a strong point of view.
"Another fallacy is that cultural nationalists are only nationalists. Those who went to jails are not nationalists, according to them," he adds.
<b>Alluding to the "de-saffronisation drive" undertaken by Human Resource Development minister Arjun Singh to cleanse history textbooks of distortions allegedly introduced by his predecessor, he contests the impression that it's an attempt at score-settling or ideological witch-hunt.</b>
He also rebuts a popular perception that the Marxists and leftwing historians had monopolized cultural institutions during the Congress dispensation. <b>"Oh, they never bothered about ideology. The change at the top in key cultural institutions, however, does happen with a change of regime."</b>
What keeps this soft-spoken, mild-mannered intellectual ticking in these end-of-ideology days? <b>"Ever since the French revolution, we have been trying to remake the world</b>. Gender equality is a promising area of action," says Habib, his faith in a more humane world intact. No ivory tower intellectual, he has encouraged students to blend radicalism with political engagement.
"There is no affirmative action for women. It is a regrettable lapse of the Constitution. Let's make it real," says Habib, in the tone of a romantic revolutionary who never gives up.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Don't spread fantasy in name of history: Irfan Habib
Manish Chand (Indo-Asian News Service)
Aligarh, March 20, 2005|11:41 IST
 Â
Re-writing of history and distortions in its teaching must stop once and for all, says scholar extraordinaire and eminent historian Irfan Habib.
"Interpretations can differ but facts are facts. This doesn't mean history must be rewritten all the time," Habib told IANS in an interview here.
"Several matters in history are in dispute. But the larger area of history is not in dispute. History, like any other discipline, has a large area of agreement where facts are established," insists Habib, former chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR).
Lashing out at the 'saffronisation' of history textbooks and research during the BJP dispensation under former human resource development minister Murli Manohar Joshi, Habib, former professor and head of the Centre for Advanced Study at the Aligarh Muslim University, forcefully defends historical methods against what he calls the "peddlers of fantasy."
"The BJP historiography is contrary to facts according to established historical methods," says the distinguished historian, who has acted as a secular gatekeeper against political assaults on history-writing.
"These BJP historians have been wilfully distorting history and are spreading fantastic notions. <b>Anyone who says Upanishads had influenced Greek philosophy is fit for a lunatic asylum</b>," says Habib, his voice quivering with rage against myth-making by political ideologues.
<b>"Their bias is evident in double standards they use to present medieval India as a period of disgrace and foreign rule. They like to portray ancient India as the perfect society</b>," says Habib, the author of "The Agrarian System of Mughal India." Published in the 1960s, the book immediately became a classic and shows Habib's skills as a researcher and a historian with a strong point of view.
"Another fallacy is that cultural nationalists are only nationalists. Those who went to jails are not nationalists, according to them," he adds.
<b>Alluding to the "de-saffronisation drive" undertaken by Human Resource Development minister Arjun Singh to cleanse history textbooks of distortions allegedly introduced by his predecessor, he contests the impression that it's an attempt at score-settling or ideological witch-hunt.</b>
He also rebuts a popular perception that the Marxists and leftwing historians had monopolized cultural institutions during the Congress dispensation. <b>"Oh, they never bothered about ideology. The change at the top in key cultural institutions, however, does happen with a change of regime."</b>
What keeps this soft-spoken, mild-mannered intellectual ticking in these end-of-ideology days? <b>"Ever since the French revolution, we have been trying to remake the world</b>. Gender equality is a promising area of action," says Habib, his faith in a more humane world intact. No ivory tower intellectual, he has encouraged students to blend radicalism with political engagement.
"There is no affirmative action for women. It is a regrettable lapse of the Constitution. Let's make it real," says Habib, in the tone of a romantic revolutionary who never gives up.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->