Raising caution against organised efforts to falsify historical knowledge through systematic erasure and distortions, Higher Education Minister R. Bindu attributed such efforts to a broader project to political and ideological supremacy of certain sections over the others.
Referring to the exclusion of Rabindranath Tagore’s name from the plaques at Visva Bharati University, she alleged those who upheld scientific and progressive outlook are being supplanted by those holding obscurantist views.
Inaugurating the 42nd annual session of the South Indian History Congress (SIHC) here through video-conference on Saturday, Dr. Bindu also emphasised the need to preserve the accounts of the struggle of the subaltern sections to secure social justice.
The Minister opined that minorities and backward sections are further marginalised through either distortion or complete omission from the annals of history. “The references to Mughal dynasty in NCERT textbooks seem to have vanished, while the Mughal Gardens (at Rashtrapati Bhavan) has been renamed as Amrit Udyan. All the cities, junctions and other places bearing Muslim names are being hastily renamed. The latest episode (in the series of such actions) is the attempt to rename the nation in NCERT textbooks,” she lamented.
On the chopping block, Dr. Bindu added, are contents related to the struggles of marginalised communities. “As early as in 2016, the NCERT had asked the CBSE to remove a chapter on the Nadar women’s right to cover her breasts. The references to other heroic struggles including the Malabar mutiny were also removed as most of the leaders were Muslims,” Dr. Bindu said.
SIHC general president S. Chandrasekhar, who chaired the inaugural session, delivered a discourse on ‘South India and Gandhi’ and the governance of south India during the British colonial period. Indian History Congress president Kesavan Veluthat delivered the keynote address.
Kerala University Vice Chancellor in-charge Mohanan Kunnummal, Director of Collegiate Education Sudhir K., University College principal Subhash T., SIHC local secretary A. Balakrishnan, organising committee chairman V. Karthikeyan Nair and general secretary S. Ganeshram also spoke on the occasion.
