Prominent writers, historians gathered for an online event held in honor of highly celebrated Irfan Habib’s 90th birthday.
The event, titled ‘In Defense of History’, was attended by Habib, economist Prabhat Patnaik, Indian History Congress (IHC) president Amiya Kumar Bagchi, historian Aditya Mukherjee and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.
Each historian was quick to point out the current Indian government’s attempts to legitimize distorted history to defend political ideology.
Romila Thapar, a professor emerita at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, while speaking to the gathering through online platform said that attempts were being made to legitimize “the currently popular, distorted history to defend political ideology” and that it is time for historians to insist that “it is not authority that is at a premium but reliable evidence and the reading of that evidence.”
Different mode of communications is being used for this purpose. For instance, social media, TV channels and glossy magazines, all locations where none are bothered to separate fact from fake, she further added.
The the 89-year-old historian known for her works on ancient history also moved on to share that the defence of history is, therefore, an imperative and imminent requirement if we are to return to being what we once were in the early years of Independence – a thoughtful, humane and secular society.
After Thapar critique on the distortion of Indian history by state, Habib also shared similar view.
Speaking at the end, Habib spoke about the importance of objectivity in Indian history and the need for defence against “the communal offensive in order to present a coloured version of history which would justify their present, so-called majoritarian policies,” which include “painting Muslims as a particularly destructive element in Indian history.”
