The third annual session of the Kerala History Congress began at Farook College, Feroke, on Saturday with a clarion call against distortion of history for vested interests.
Inaugurating the session, Minister for Local Administration K.T. Jaleel said history should not be used to tarnish any section. He warned that an extreme right-wing interpretation of history would destroy the secular ethos of the country.
The Minister said the ominous signs of communal hatred being displayed in some parts of the country were the result of distortions made in history upheld by national and Left historians. Behind most communal flare-ups were falsehoods and rumours, he added.
Underscoring the necessity of re-reading the cultural and communal heritage of Kerala, Dr. Jaleel laid out several examples of religious harmony existing over centuries. “Our religious festivities like Pooram and Nercha are the finest examples of the communal amity of the land. They may be rooted in legends and myths. But all legends and myths may find their origin in a historical thread. The onus is on us to find that thread of history,” he observed.
Asking historians not to forget their noble responsibility, Calicut University Vice-Chancellor K. Mohammed Basheer said no discipline would be complete without history. He deplored that volatile areas of history were being given undue emphasis and circulated with the aim of making people religious fanatics.
K.K. Abid Husain Thangal, MLA, too called upon historians to show their responsibility not only to present but to future generations as well.
State Higher Education Council Vice-Chairman Rajan Gurukkal presided over the function.
Delivering a special lecture later, Dr. Gurukkal presented a fresh historical perspective on differential calculus. “It was Mādhava of Sangamagrāma (c.1340-1425 CE) in Kerala who for the first time developed power series and the concept of infinity for differential calculus,” he said, adding that Madhava’s discoveries were later popularised by Europe.
Daud Ali, graduate chair from the University of Pennsylvania, US, delivered the keynote address. Prof. Ali spoke on ‘compacts, insurgencies and state technologies in medieval South India’.
Kerala History Congress general secretary N. Gopakumaran Nair, Farook College principal E.P. Imbichikoya, Farook College managing committee president P.K. Ahamed, and Farook College History department head E.K. Fasalu Rahman spoke.
History Congress local secretary T. Muhammadali welcomed the gathering. M.R. Manmadhan proposed a vote of thanks. Books such as On Presenting Histories edited by Sebastian Joseph;
Social Scapes and Locality edited by T. Muhammadali; Vargheeyathayum Indian Charitra Rachanayum written by M.P. Sreedharan, and Recasting Images penned by M.R. Manmadhan were released at the function.
