Is history being converted into a bomb factory? How does it promote the culture of hate? Does it fall us apart to embroil in violent communal skirmishes, riots and bloodshed? How can we differentiate between genuine and false histories?
The answer to these questions is furnished by the following discourse.
The truthful historical knowledge has become too scarce to be accessed so easily and directly. It has receded into oblivion due to the unending callousness with which it is being treated by the jobbing historians for handsome remunerations and awards. In the face of ruthless distortion of facts and subjective interpretation of events, it is almost impossible to lay our hands on genuine historical materials. They have been pushed towards extinction through the books written by commissioned writers for the appeasement of their employers. To bring into focus only what their funding agencies commission them to do, the phoney writers arrange facts and events in such a manner that they give no other meaning than that desired by their sponsors. In actuality which facts to highlight and with what intent and interpretation is decided by their financers who with their money and political power can easily get days changed into nights and nights into days; white into black and blue into red; Taj Mahal into a Vedic temple and Baburi Masjid into Ram Janam Boomi. They are capable of getting Tuzk-e- Baburi and Tuzk-e-Jehangiri rediscovered as works composed by “barbarians” through the writers like Salman Rushdie (see his introduction for Wheeler M Thackson’s translation of Baburnama). The scholar and nature-loving poet emperors with splendrous books to their credit have been reduced to nomad Pygmies and portrayed as medieval “barbarians” . They are described as too brute to have any sense of differentiating between right and wrong.
Despite being honest in their confessions and hiding nothing about their life including their cruelties, their weaknesses for men and women, these scholar emperors are considered as savage beings. Though their writings speak loudly about their civility as those of Rousue and Gandhi, yet they are portrayed as crude, uncivilized rulers because of their religious affiliations. Even if they frequently discuss their unsavory experiences of life and sexual frustrations–which stand in total contrast to the teachings of Islam, establishing, thereby, their credentials as flamboyant and liberal monarchs–these rulers are painted as “Islamists”, religious “bigots” and iconoclasts by the jobbers. Intriguingly the most important contents of their stupendous works are overlooked to paint the erudite emperors otherwise. If they were “barbarians and bigots” for being too frank and honest to acknowledge their enslavement to their own ills and longings for wine and young handsome lads (Babur) and beautiful women and flamboyancies (Jehangir); who were then Rousso and Gandhi. Rousso urinated in neighbour’s cooking pot and indulged in incest while Gandhi tasted meat and had intercourse with wife when his father was on his death bed and had no shame in sleeping naked with his close relation for his experiments?
The jobbing historians present an accurate replica of the medieval British shopkeepers who for adding to their profits used to adulterate their goods. It was their preferred and favourite ploy to deceive their customers which went unnoticed for quite a long time till finally it was detected and exposed by some wise men who called it swapping cheese for chalk to save some cheese for oneself.
This Chalk for Cheese stuff has snatched from history its authenticity, potency and academic sanctity to make it more a cause of bickering, disintegration and violence than that of the harmony, brotherhood and patriotism. It has rendered it to hang limp around Masjid-Mandir and heroe-villian stories to hammer out a hateful propaganda against the minorities. For this the Twitter and WhatsApp Universities, –Bollywood has become the more recent entrant into the fray through its one sided film erroneously titled Kashmir Files–are working laboriously without applying tools required to evaluate historical eras, episodes and events through cause and effect format and with due consideration of space and time. They are instead reinforcing vigorously a pedestrian view of history, spinning myths to extol the present rulers by comparing them with the medieval monarchs which is technically wrong as both are distant in time and space. Juxtaposing 21 century’s act of showering flowers on the safa-i-karamcharies for keeping clean a temple with that of 15th century’s fictional story of hand cutting of workers of Taj Mahal is intended to magnify the magnanimity and relevance of the present dispensation and disparage and belittle the stature of emperor Shah Jahan. A myth which has no evidence to support it and no credible historian to believe it, is ruthlessly being used to amplify the status of the ruler. “Taj Mahal workers hands were chopped off “, goes the rave and rant of the jobbers who sing the chant: “then there is PM Modi who showered flowers on the workers behind the development of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor to express his gratitude”.
These WhatsApp and Twitter Universities and filmmakers are religiously focused on promoting the idea that Indian history needs to be rewritten as it has been written by detractors. This is exactly what P. N. Oak believed once upon a time. He wrote: Bharat Ka Etihaas Bharat Kay Shatruon Dawra Likha Gaya Hai? (India’s history has been written by its enemies). Like him, they are altering historical evidences to falsify the authentic history and whatever does not suit their ideology, pursuing fervently what their predecessor in the field had set out to accomplish by proclaiming brazenly that the old historical mosques and monuments of the Sultans and the Mughals, including, the eighth wonder of the world, Taj Mahal were built on Vedic temples. This is sheer propaganda which actually has no historical legs to stand upon; just an empty rhetoric floated to strengthen the stage set for converting history into a Bomb Factory. Evidendtly Eric Hobsbawm, British historian’s following famous quote is perfectly and completely vindicated by this unhistorical assertion:
” The profession of history is not as injurious as physics. But even it can be dangerous. History can anytime get converted into a bomb factory. That situation we are affected into different ways. Firstly it is our duty to put historical truth in front of the people and secondly criticize the history made up with political ideological intentions”.
Conveniently are, thus, fables concocted by these Universities and filmmakers and film actors to arouse irrational zeal and interest among the people in the fictitious past, driving them towards credulity and bigotry of unprecedented nature, and turning them on the people not subscribing to their religion. These fictional stories instigate the plebeians to give bloodcurdling calls in Haridwar at a Dharma Sansad, for enacting Rohingya in India to ensure ethnic cleansing and genocide of Muslims.
According to one estimate Oaks books have become bestselling stuff these days which has ofcourse further enthused/encouraged the functionaries of the Universities to publicize Vedic past as the fountain of science, technology and knowledge, and Middle Ages as too dark to have fostered evil, rap, and crime. They have been too influential to persuade Parliament Panel (2021) to reccomend rewriting history books with special inclusion of teachings from Bhagavad Gita and Vedas.
The History Bomb Factory is seriously engaged in changing Godse from villain/killer into a hero to be worshipped by the people. Similarly Savarkar is let go out of fake history bottle to replace Gandhi as the father of Indian nation. He is frequently summoned along with his ideology to grant the majority-wish to constrict the mobility of non-Hindus by lynching them publicly and with the whiplash of love jihad etc, etc. He is used to drive people to hate and fight enemies who belong to an out-group and strengthen majority-amity and minority-enmity.
In their race for lucrative careers even some archaeologists have fallen prey to the baits of the said Universities. They have undertaken the service of justifying the false narratives by providing “archaeological evidence” not only to the prevalence of Shiva worship in Harappan sites but also to the existence of Baburi Masjid on the crutches of an old temple. With such phoney evidences the functionaries develop their narratives which are further supported by the anti-Mughal writings of Jadunath Sarkar and Mujumdar. The works of both these authors are solely based on colonial view of Indian history which justifies religion as a determining factor of identity formation in India. They are among the major sources of inspiration behind the growing narrative that is unrelentingly thrusting a religious identity upon the people, not allowing the objective, rational voice to make any noise.
The patronized narrative has become so pervasive that it doesn’t shy away from using coercion and intimidation to scuttle the voice of dissent. It ensures that the rationale voice is lost in the wilderness and there prevails complete silence to make it conveniently possible for people like Swami Prabhdananda to call “politicians, the police, the army and every Hindu to pick up arms to conduct cleanliness drive( Safai Abhiyan). There is no solution apart from this”.
Taking cue from him, the plebeians spew venom day and night while demanding “genocide” of Muslims. And then, Pooja Shakun Pandey brazenly says, “If a hundred of us are ready to kill two million of them, then we will win in making India a Hindu nation.”
The growing phenomenon of hate has assumed dangerous proportions, rendering the pusillanimously timid powers (that be) to be mere spectators, stirring them least to denounce the brazen display of racism and violence against the Muslims. Their ever increasing deaf-mute and blind demeanour has resulted in open violation of minority rights guaranteed by the constitution. The all-pervading culture of official silence plus public excitement over hateful behaviour of Baghats have extended the wings of Bomb Factory to Christians as well, prompting Karnataka’s BJP MP, Tejaswi Sury to spew venom against the minorities on 26 December 2021 in these words:
“Muslims or Christians, who have undergone religious conversion, should be brought back into the fold of Hinduism and all mutts and temples should have annual targets for completion of such religious re- conversions”.
The History Bom Factory has made people so intolerant that they have even lost the patience to see a Muslim girl or woman in hijab and listen to the following Urdu poem of poet Iqbal:
“Lab pe aati hay duwa bun kay tamanna meri
Zendagi shama ki soorut ho
Khudaya meri”
Sung as a prayer by children in one of the UP schools. The head master of the school was suspended for this “sin” described as a security risk by a Babu ( District officer).
Thus, the History Factory is unwittingly determined to inaugurate a civil war that is fraught with the consequences of bringing disintegration in its wake to make the Subcontinent the arena of blazing fire.
(Dr. Ahad has authored: Kashmir to Frankfurt; Kashmir Rediscovered; Kashmir: Triumphs & Tragedies; Legends of Unsung Heroes (forthcoming); Kashmir: Unrevelling the Unknown ( forthcoming)
