History Congress discusses Nehruvian era and inequality in history

New Delhi: At a time when rewriting official history to make it Hindutva-centric has become government policy, India’s most prestigious gathering of historians held in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) struck a different chord.
In the three daylong Platinum Jubilee edition of the Indian History Congress (IHC) — which concluded on Tuesday — two topics got special attention: the Nehruvian Era and inequality in Indian history.

On its part, the Indian History Congress Association, which organises the meet, had set a broad direction for the annual event with the theme ‘Humanism, Tolerance and Reason: Defining the Contours of History’.

But two panels under the auspices of the left-leaning JNU and Aligarh Historians’ Society (AHS) expressly focused on discussions and paper presentations concerning the Nehruvian Era and its current relevance, and the past and present forms of inequality in India, respectively.

In the conversations among researchers and scholars who attended the meet, the choice of topics highlighted by the Congress and their contrast with the new Hindutva-oriented focus on history in policy was noted.

Aakansha Kumar, a Phd student from JNU who presented a paper in one of the sessions told ET, “Nehru was everywhere; there were big panel discussions on all three days.
There was nothing overtly said in the sessions I attended about

saffronisation of history, but some of us did feel that since Lal Bahadur Shastri was officially celebrated more than Nehru, the latter was perhaps discussed more here.”

Interestingly, those who attended also noted the fact that the event was cosponsored by three Congress ruled state governments Kerala, Karnataka and Assam.

But Dr Rakesh Batabyal, local secretary of the IHC, played down these issues. “We had written to all state governments for sponsorship and received from these three.

Also, the HRD ministry through ed also noted the fact that the event was cosponsored by three Congress ruled state governments Kerala, Karnataka and Assam.

But Dr Rakesh Batabyal, Local Secretary of the IHC, played down these issues.

“We had written to all state governments for sponsorship and received from these three.

Also, the HRD Ministry through UGC and ICHR have also sponsored the event, so there is nothing political about it,” he said.

Batabyal pointed out that controversial ICHR head YS Rao had also been invited and he attended the event.

The reason for focusing on Nehru was on account of the commemoration of the ex-PM’s 125th birth anniversary.

Also, we have voices from the economic right to left, it was an open field, he added. He also conceded, though, that finding historians from cultural right was difficult, and thus no presence could be seen.

Respected historian Irfan Habib, who is long affiliated with the AHG, told ET that the choice of “forms of inequality in Indian History was in view of the issue’s increasing contemporary relevance”.