INDIA: History learning, or rather relearning

The New York Times (12/30/02) has a feature article by Kai Friese, "Hijacking India's history. Hindu nationalists rewrite the textbooks". They are unhappy that the most ancient texts of Hinduism are associated with the arrival of the Vedic Aryan peoples from the Northwast. They don't like the dates of 1500 to 1000 BC assigned o their advent., implying that the Indus Valley civilization is older. One up for Pakistan. They dislike the idea that India was peopled by a mingling of different grops; their criticism of this is essentially racist. The National Council of Educational Research and Training which sets school curricula has released the first of the new history textbooks. They elide over unpleasant facts such as the assassination of Gandhi by a Hindu fanatic. They have invented the Hindu-Saraswati civilization; Saraswati is an ancient river central to Hindu myth; the idea of this civilization is rather like the Mexican American invention of Aztlan. They claim that the Aryans were an indigenous race. Christianity is the target ot attacks, like Islam. The texts have been adopted with enthusiasm in states like Gujarat, ironically the birthplace of Gandhi. We will have to wait to see whether there will be any reaction.

Ronald Hilton - 1/4/03