Nationalism abusing history often, says Romila Thapar

KOCHI: Nationalism often abuses history by using it as a propaganda tool and historians should stand up and say that such attempts do not portray true history, said eminent historian Romila Thapar. She was addressing the first session of Meet the Historian programme held online by Kerala History Congress on Tuesday.
"Just like Eric Hobsbawm rightly said, ‘History is to nationalism what poppy is to an opium addict’.What we are witnessing today is the wild suggestions that are made of the past without reliable evidence. It is an abusive history. So, historians have to take it silently or stand up and say this is not history as it has no historical inclination or reliable, logical or rational evidence. Consequently, this abuse of history will continue until intelligent reading by public happens and they understand that this is not the history we actually had and it can be debated," said Thapar.
She added that the big change that should have been brought in by secular nationalism after Independence was that every citizen had equal status and rights. But it did not happen in practice over the past 70 years sufficiently and what happens now is the revival of the colonial idea of two nation theory- the Hindu and Muslim nations, she said.
The session was attended by several historians, teachers and student and it was led by historians Kesavan Veluthat and Rajan Gurukkal.
"Meet the Historian programme aims at exploring the thought world of historians who have substantially contributed to the field of historiography and set high standards. Kerala History Congress has identified such scholars from all over the world and will interact with them for understanding their methodology and methods of historical research. The upcoming sessions will feature eminent professors like Rajan Gurukkal, Joanna Bourke, Mridula Mukherjee, Aditya Mukherjee, Neeladri Bhattacharya, Kesavan Veluthat among others," said Sebastian Joseph, general secretary of Kerala History Congress.
Kerala History Congress is a registered organization of historians, students, teachers and researchers drawn from Kerala and different parts of the country.