A Discussion on “Sacrificing History and Culture on the Altar of Hate and Prejudice: Challenges Historians are Confronted with”, was organised by the IOS Centre for Historical and Civilisational Studies in both online and offline mode on October 6, 2022, at IOS Headquarters, New Delhi. 

 

The programme of discussion started with recitation of a verse from the Holy Quran by Prof. M. Ishaque.

 

Prof. Syed Jamaluddin (Director, IOSCHCS) gave a brief about the IOS Centre for Historical and Civilisational Studies and presented its genesis.

 

Keeping in mind the present scenario of hate and prejudice in society and the attack on cultural and social history by the saffronised regimes and groups, the attendees presented their views to suggest means to prioritise areas of concern and suggested ways to overcome them. 

 

Prof. Syed Jamaluddin said that the distortion of history by people in positions of power is very rampant these days. For example, the Mughal rulers have been a target of hate. Fake stories are circulating on social media about the Mughal lifestyle.

 

Dr. Zeeshan Ahmad Misbahi from Jamia Arifiya, Saiyed Sarawan, Allahabad, said that the rewriting of the history of India should be negated by presenting the truth, backed by facts and data. There is a need to organise lecture series, public awareness programmes, etc., to counter misinformation.

 

Prof. Waseem Raja from Centre of Advanced Study, Dept. of History, Aligarh Muslim University, said that the history of the Mughals is being targeted and dehumanised. The curriculum on Muslim rule in India has been reduced to mere small segments. A thorough abuse of history is taking place. The agenda of the Hindutva is to malign and erase the documentation of Muslim rule.

 

He pointed out that the mission to erase the history of Muslim rule has been going at the school level, where the textbooks glorify Hindu rulers and demonise Muslim rulers. On ways to overcome these challenges, he said that the leaders of the community should come forward to address the issues at hand.

 

Professor Raja also emphasised that there was an urgent need to digitalise every document and data for public use so that the attack on our culture and history can be fought back with the help of facts and data.

 

Prof. M. Ishaque, Former Head, Dept. of Islamic Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, read out Ibn Khaldun’s definition and purpose of history—“History is a noble art, and to write history, you need a good speculative mind”. Talking about the falsification of history, he said that many earlier historians and scholars have talked about the act of falsifying history for selfish and unethical motives. The false narrative is repeated so many times that after a certain time, people start to believe it as the truth. Therefore, it is important to take the precaution of not falling for the distorted and falsified history while dealing with it. 

 

He said that the Britishers tried to document history in a way that portrayed them in a positive light in terms of the welfare of people. This narrative was countered by a number of great historians such as Rajeshwari Prasad, Beni Prasad, Banarsi Prasad Saxena, Shafat Ahmad Khan, Tara Chand, Mohammad Habib, R. P. Tripathi, Ishwari Prasad by presenting a balanced view of that time. The distortion and falsification of history should be approached strategically, he said.

 

Dr. Mallika Begum, Assistant Professor, Department of History, JBAS College for Women, Chennai, said that the contribution of Muslims, especially Tamil Muslims, in the making of India has not been recognised appropriately. She noted that even in history textbooks the contribution of Muslims in the freedom struggle is marginally discussed. There is a need to highlight this aspect of the freedom struggle.

 

Maulana Abdul Hamid Noumani, Theologian, Author and Columnist, said that any historical explanation should be in accordance with the original sources. He emphasised that while writing history the historical evidence and materials related to different areas need to be collected and examined.

 

Dr. M. Manzoor Alam, Chairman, IOS, said that in the light of today’s discussion, there is a need to sit together and discuss the further course of action. He also said that non-Muslim historians should be called for discussion on the distortion and falsifying of history to enrich the perspective.

 

In the end, the Chairman constituted a Committee consisting of Prof. M. Ishaque, Maulana Abdul Hameed Nomani, Prof. Waseem Raja and Prof, Syed Jamaluddin to hold another round of meeting to frame the themes of research projects related to social and cultural life of medieval India and identify scholars to take up themes suggested to them.

 

The programme came to an end with a vote of thanks presented by Prof. Syed Jamaluddin.