'By Invitation': Guest column ::: History – Course Correction not possible without right knowledge : M Chuba Ao,

 (this piece also appeared in 'Nagaland Post' and other publications

M Chuba Ao, (is BJP National Vice President) 

 

Let me admit, I was impressed by the excitement shown by some of our esteemed readers across the north east and in the national capital to my previous piece on 'Modern Indian history'. This is making me try this second attempt today to take the debate to the next stage. Talking about modern Indian history, we need to focus on the British period and also the era under Mughal and other Muslim rulers. But ‘modern’ history vis-à-vis India’s Freedom struggle and post-Independent India also would be important. 

This will lead us to dwell a little about Marxism-Leninism and how these influenced the turn of events in India. One can say the Marxism-Leninism affected Jawaharlal Nehru's political philosophy even prior to Independence. But before we go further. It is necessary to acknowledge that the British raj also left good and positive impact on millions of Indians. One obvious reference would be English Education and also roles played by the protagonists such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy and William Bentinck, the first Governor-General of India from 1834 to 1835. Sati system was abolished precisely in 1829.

'Nagaland Post' Link

                                                       

 

There is no problem in admitting that an important step was taken in 1835, with the passing of English education Act which laid the basis of modern western education. Increasing Literacy rate was a great positive result and this started the process of setting up of universities.

 Chuba's previous article Link

Slowly the regional/vernacular education and literature got their importance. Vernacular works like Bengali, Tamil and Marathi and Hindi got translated into English and this formed a unity in thinking process amongst the educated Indians.

The Muslim era too contributed its part. Monuments came up but of course there were controversies as Hindu monuments were destroyed too. We also realise Hindu rulers were not so much concerned about their legacy factor unlike Mughal rulers and the British colonial masters. On this front, the Congress leaders and the Government of India should have done their part after Independence and try preserve and uphold the contributions of Hindu Rajas. Instead, it is true the Congress leadership glorified both the British raj and also the Mughal era. Of course, in contemporary setting, some ‘corrections’ are being made.

 

We may refer to the stellar role played by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in uniting the 562 princely states. These provinces had different types of revenue-sharing arrangements with the British, often depending on their size, population and local conditions. But after Independence, no sincere effort was made to improve our basic knowledge on these princely states.

 

Thus, I come back to what I have said in my previous article that the youngsters ought to know all these. Our students and generation next should know that In 1947, our own princely states covered 40% of the area of pre-independence India and constituted 23% of its population. The most important states had their own British political residencies: Indore in Central India, Hyderabad, Mysore and Travancore in the south.

 

Now, let me throw up a simple question. What is common between books such as 'What Has Religion Done for Mankind' by 'Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society', 'Unarmed Victory' by Bertrand Russell and 'The Heart of India' by Alexander Campbell? The answer is simple. All these and many other plays and books were banned during Jawaharlal Nehru's tenure as India's first Prime Minister.

 

If I ask which government has the ‘distinction’ of having the highest number of sedition charges filed in a shortest possible time, there are chances most Congress friends will name our Narendra Modi government. The truth is on the contrary. The UPA government under Dr Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi has the dubious distinction of having the highest number of sedition charges filed in the shortest period of time. This was in connection to Kudankulam Nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu.

 

I would be too keen to underline that our youngsters should know all these key episodes in our post-Independence history. Nehru expired on May 27, 1964 and by then he had laid 'foundations' of some major policies. The policy of non-alignment was one such principal focus.

 

But in his life-time he experienced the agony of 1962 and it was a downright setback to his ideals. Nehru saw history as a 'natural movement' and he believed while capitalism will be a doomed society, socialism will win. The truth is the "reverse" has happened across the globe. And until the delayed economic liberalisation came in 1991, India was following a faulty policy.

 

The 'Modern history' and the historians have to look back at these and analyse how things had turned out despite lofty ideals. Concealing the defeats by glorifying one narrative does not actually help. The country also had to keep gold deposits overseas and India’s Finance Minister under Chandrasekhar government was declined audience by his Japanese counterpart. You cannot blame the four-month-old Chandrasekhar government for it. The problem with the Indian economy had started in mid-eighties under Rajiv Gandhi.

 

I will repeat, the youngsters of India irrespective of their present political affiliations should know these before they form opinion about any Prime Minister and their politics. One reason for the 'failures' under Congress was that things were not applied from a practical perspective. The 'modern Indian history' and the historians will have to examine these closely. This is my party's stand and we believe so.

 

 

Now, let us take a closer look at the world of 'free speech and liberalism' under Nehru. 

Famous poet Majrooh Sultanpuri was jailed in 1949 for his alleged anti-establishment writings. First democratically elected Communist government in the world in Kerala was dismissed by Nehru. Books banned during the period include ‘The Heart of India’ and few others. But today there are strong claims by Rahul Gandhi and others that Nehru was a paragon of free speech. This is what is called the fake narratives! 

 

The Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951, enacted in 1951, made several changes to the fundamental rights of Indians. It also provided means to restrict the freedom of expression among other things.

 

Now another phase of Indian history. There are lack of study materials or research on ancient Hindu temples, monuments, caves etc. These can be a source of knowledge bank ‘correct’ history. It also ought to be stated that the Indian History does not end with the independence of India. Hence after 75 years and more, we must give attention to study post-Independent Indian history.

 

In 2023, there was a big Hungama around BBC. But do people know, Indira Gandhi had expelled BBC before Emergency. The BBC was in trouble for two documentaries, ‘Calcutta’ and ‘Phantom India’.  The moot point is in 2023, the important question is do our young college and university going students of JNU and other popular varsities across India know all these.

 

Let us go to some states in contemporary setting, in Chhattisgarh, a sedition charge was slapped on a person who complained on Facebook about power cut. In West Bengal, an educationist from the science stream faced the wrong side of law just because he shared a cartoon of Mamata Banerjee.

So, when BJP leaders say, the Congress and Trinamool leaders should ‘look inside’ their own house before screaming in parliament against the BJP, there are reasons.

 

In the concluding part let me refer to major blunders committed by the Congress. Kashmir was one. Forty percent area of the province continues to be under Pakistan’s control. The PoK provides Pakistan a strategic land route to China through the Karakoram ranges. We can deal with more such issues at a later stage.

 

It is time the Congress party is made accountable. They must stop making indiscriminate propaganda against the BJP and our Modi government. 

Lastly, I must say there is need in this country to encourage each other develop sense of ‘discipline’ and in times to come we will have effective knowledge and discipline leading to a greater sense of patriotism. The milestone 2047 should be different and it is achievable.

 

 

Ends

 

(Views are personal)