Inspired by China, India is now attempting a large-scale history rewriting project. Many regimes, rulers and dynasties have left their records of what according to them is history (OpEd, “Hindutva’s attempt at rewriting history is futile”, October 24). Each government in power hopes to pioneer its version of history and interpretation. Given the diversity of the nation and the huge geographical spread there is no one version. One wonders which narrative the Home Minister hopes to emphasise — Hindu, Islamic, British, Buddhist, South, East and North East, pre-Aryan to name few? Earlier attempts to rewrite history have often overlooked the contributions of the South. This will not be the first attempt nor will it be the last to rewrite our history. As George Orwell said, “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”
H.N. Ramakrishna,
Bengaluru
