Date:21/10/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/10/21/stories/2002102100601000.htm

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Distorting history

Sir, — Your Editorial `Inventing history' (Oct. 14) has listed "a whole lot of factual errors and erroneous notions being vended as truths". The pertinent question is why the Sangh Parivar members are interested in dishing out these untruths. The violent behaviour of the Parivar has shown that it has no concern for Hindus or for `Hindutva'. In this era of globalisation and liberalisation, the Parivar is under pressure from MNCs to follow anti-people policies. To stifle popular resistance, it is adopting the divide and rule tactics used by colonial rulers.

Distortion of history in school textbooks is one such strategy followed by the colonial rulers to divide the people of this country. Shalandra Kumar Bandopadhyaya, the famous Bangla writer, freedom fighter and Gandhian, in his book Dangon ka Itihas says that the British Government, realising the strength of the Hindu-Muslim joint front against it, adopted a well-defined strategy to keep these two communities divided by means of education through distortions in history textbooks. The communalists of today are using this strategy to generate anti-minority hysteria among the people.

Gopa Joshi,
New Delhi