Date:08/02/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/02/08/stories/2003020800011003.htm

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Failing history

Sir, — This is with reference to the article `The Mahatma that failed' by Mushirul Hasan (Feb. 3). The author has rightly remarked that the "nation has failed to pay respect to its chief benefactor". Gandhiji tried to preserve communal harmony at the expense of his life. That the nation has not learnt any lessons from the communal carnage of the pre-Independence era has been amply borne out by the recent communal clashes in Gujarat.

Mr. V. Krishna Ananth in his article `Distortion of history' (Jan. 8, 1997) quoted Prof. Irfan Habib as saying: "Historical linguistics, inscriptions and the canons of archaeological excavations mean nothing to our friends in the VHP and the only thing that matters to them is working up religious sentiment." If the present trend of distorting history continues, historians will have to make Nathuram Godse a martyr and M.K. Gandhi an assassin.

C. Paramarthalingam,
Madurai, T.N.