Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor admitted during his debate with historian Vikram Sampath on the India Today conclave that the Congress party on purpose downplayed the historical atrocities committed against Hindus by Islamic invaders. He justified the distortion of history by using ‘nation building’ as an excuse.
Vikram Sampath said that the Congress party has been guilty of allowing Marxists to exert a stranglehold over Indian history. He said, “I think the Congress party unwittingly gave away that space of historiography to the stranglehold of Marxist historians. And in a discipline like this, which thrives on multiplicity of views, which thrives on dissent, discussion, debate, differences of opinion, healthy discussions, I think the thralldom with which academic history has been largely controlled by clique of Leftist historians, it has distorted history and created several fault lines.”
Vikram Sampath also lamented the fact that the focus of history in India has been far too concerned with Delhi and even minor dynasties in Delhi have received disproportionate attention while great dynasties from other regions of India such as the Rashtrakutas, Chalukyas, Satavahans and others such Ahoms and Nagas did not receive adequate attention.
He also said that the brutal history of Islamic invasions has been neglected. In response, Shashi Tharoor said, “Partition, split of the nationalist movement didn’t happen over ideology or geography. It happened on one key question – is religion the determinant of our nationhood.”
“In India, history was pressed into the nation-building project. There was a desire to allay over some unpleasant details, the destruction of temples, some of the horrors that happened while stressing on the commonalities that also featured throughout the ages,” added Shashi Tharoor. He further claimed that it was a “laudable” initiative.
What Shashi Tharoor essentially admitted to was the Congress party’s whitewashing the brutality inflicted on the Hindu civilisation to uphold the ideals of Nehruvian Secularism. The real discomforting part of Tharoor’s response was not that his party had engaged in genocide denial of Hindus, it was the fact that he considered it a “laudable” initative.
Genocide denial is not considered acceptable in civil society and here we have a sitting member of the Indian Parliament proudly admitting that Indian historians covered up some “unpleasant details” as part of a nation building project.
The Congress party, of course, went far beyond simply covering up the atrocities committed by Islamic invaders. They have done everything possible in their power to delay the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the construction of which is fortunately firmly underway.
Historians patronized by the Congress party have also denied that Aurangzeb was a tyrannical ruler and other atrocities committed by Mughals. In fact, lionizing the worst Islamic bigots and genocidal maniacs became the cornerstone of Nehruvian Secularism.
Shashi Tharoor did not stop there and went on to claim that today, “We are scratching at wounds that have already healed.” According to the senior Congress leader, it appears that he believes true history should be covered up because it might open up wounds.
His words once again highlight the fact that history, as it has been taught in India, has not been an honest account of facts but carefully constructed propaganda to cloak the actual brutality of the events that transpired. It is interesting to note that Tharoor does not deny the authenticity of Islamic atrocities, he says that it should not be spoken about for the ‘greater good’.
