Not rewriting history, just ‘filling up gaps’: Pradhan

‘Previous Regime Didn't Acknowledge Many Greats’

on Feb 14, 2023

On Monday, a contentious debate in the Lok Sabha between Congress MP Manish Tewari and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan about the role of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) and whether the prestigious organisation is "rewriting" Indian history descended into a political slanging match.

Tewari referred to ICHR's public statements in which it claimed to be re-writing history as well as the contradicting claims made by the government in answer to a parliamentary question during Question Hour.

"I want to ask the minister about two concepts: updating history, which is an admirable closure notion acknowledged by people all across the world, and rewriting history, which is a process of rediscovering the current narrative by basing it on specific historical moorings. What exactly is the ICHR doing if they aren't rewriting history? Why are the statements made publicly by the ICHR and what you are telling this House in conflict? Tewari enquired. Pradhan responded by claiming that the government was only "filling in the holes" that the previous administration had created by failing to recognise the outstanding men and women of India.

In order to draw attention to "gaps in history" that the previous administration had overlooked, Pradhan cited the examples of Rajasthan's Mangarh Dham, the sacrifice of Guru Govind Singh's sons, Zorawar and Fateh Singh, which the government started celebrating as "Veer Bal Diwas," and the acknowledgment of Alluri Krishna Raju.

"The government has no intention of rewriting any historical events... For roughly 1,100 to 1,200 years, India was ruled by foreign powers at various times. If we look at how different regions of thenation participated during those times, we can see that many of them from the North, South, Eastand Westhave influenced Indian culture and pride. These merit should be recorded in history. As a result, the ICHR fills in the gaps. We are not changing history; rather, we are broadening the scope of it, according to Pradhan.