In his aggressive but poorly researched article, “Neglect of knowledge traditions” (‘Open Page’, Jan.4), Michel Danino attacks the historiography of the authors of the Indian History Congress resolution and accuses them of “suppressing the genuine achievements of Indian science”. It is surprising that a scholar who presumes to berate an entire congress, attended by more than 2,000 Indian historians, is so little aware of the writings of some of the more eminent members of that body. To take only one example, the first three volumes of Professor Irfan Habib’s A People’s History of India (Tulika Publishers, New Delhi) deal extensively with the scientific developments and technologies in use in the Indus civilisation as well as during the Vedic Age. Perhaps Prof. Danino could use “substantial exposure” to such research before letting his own imagination run wild.
Jayati Ghosh,New Delhi