By Ram Puniyani
With the Hindu nationalist BJP in the seat of power, an exercise in history writing is being undertaken on lines parallel to what was done in Pakistan. So far we have always heard about the communal version of medieval history, where villainous foreigners, the Muslim kings, attacked India, spread Islam and destroyed Hindu temples. The latest example of this version is seen in glorification of Rana Pratap as a great Hindu nationalist and freedom fighter. Lately, it is being said that he had defeated Akbars army in Haldighati!
So far there have already been projections of the theory that Aryans, from whom Hindus are supposed to have derived their lineage, were the ancient natives and that Harappa Mohenjo-Daro was actually a part of the Aryan culture.
Setting up of a research committee
Now, to put a seal on ‘Hindu first’ version of history, the Modi Government has appointed a committee; the aim of which is to work on these lines so that they can prepare a report which will form the base of syllabus of the school books. The panel is referred to in government documents as the committee for holistic study of origin and evolution of Indian culture since 12,000 years before present and its interface with other cultures of the world. Mahesh Sharma, who is the culture minister, while addressing the panel said that the long taught version that people from central Asia arrived in India much more recently, some 3,000 to 4,000 years ago, and transformed the population, needs questioning.
In this panel, one aspect which is the major focus of the study, is the ancient Indian History, the origin of Aryans. So far various versions have prevailed. Jyoti Rao Phule attributed the arrival of Aryans as an invasion. Lokmanya Tilak went by the theory that Aryans, the people of the superior race, had come from Arctic zone. In succession, RSSs second Sarsanghchalak, by now aware that if Hindu superiority and exclusive ownership of this land is to be asserted, Aryans have to be presented as the natives. Tilak still wanted to claim that Aryans being Original natives, and went on to say that Aryans did come from Arctic zone, but, the Arctic zone was earlier located in our Bihar and Orissa areas and later shifted to north through the movement of the land mass!
What do the scriptures have to say about it?
The primary source for theories of Aryans in the subcontinent has been the study of Indo-Aryan languages and the major current theory has been that there might have been multiple waves of migration, through which Aryans came here. The remains of Indus valley, Harappan and Mohanzo-Daro (H-M) culture show that it was an urban culture. However, Vedas, the major source for understanding Aryans; reflect the nomadic village life contrary to the Indus valley culture.
The fight for the claim
There are various genetic studies which have shown the migration of people from Western areas. The sectarian nationalism always wants to take its history as back as possible to strengthen its claim of exclusive control over the land. In Pakistan, the marginalisation of Hindu minority has run parallel with the theory that Pakistan was formed with Mohammad bin Kasim winning over Sindh in year 712. In their syllabi all Hindu Kings are missing, the role of Indian National Congress, Gandhi and Nehru are missing. Here in India, Hindu nationalists begin with a political assertion formulated by Savarkar that all those regarding this land as holy land and fatherland are Hindus. So logically the ancient lineage has to begin with Hindus, irrespective of the fact that the word Hindu itself came into vogue in eight century.
Genetic studies have already shown that the birth of man begins in South Africa, from where the sections moved all over the globe, debunking Eurasian origin theory. The construction of past for present political goals is with the aim of deriving legitimacy to suppress and marginalise those who do not fit into their definition of Hindu or to force everybody to adopt Hindu norms as defined by them. The Indian Constitution correctly begins with We the People of India. This attempt of the Government is a foil to Hindu nationalist ideology, on lines of what Muslim communalism did in Pakistan.