Need to reassess past ideologies: Thapar

Says colonial readings should be viewed for what they gave birth too.

LAHORE: An eminent Indian scholar and historian said ideologies that were intended to encourage the creation of nation states in the subcontinent now need to be reassessed.

Romila Thapar made the remark while speaking on the topic ‘The Past and Present’ at the three-day Lahore Literature Festival, which started on Friday. She said that despite passage of several years colonial stereotype still colours our perceptions of who we are, what we were and where we are headed.

Thapar insisted that the colonial readings should be viewed for what they gave birth to, adding that they need to be replaced by nurturing sensitivity as to how we listen to the dialogue between the past and the present. She said it was important to determine the authenticity of the very past that has and is shaping our society. Connecting the dots, she explained how history was carved out in pre-colonial era to deepen the division between Hindus and Muslims.

The Indian historian said we take the version of narration at face value and ignore the intensive investigation that should always be crucial to a statement from the past.

Thapar, during her address, said that a Scottish historian James Mill concocted the theory of divide in the subcontinent.

Referring to the image presented in the colonial era of Somnath temple, she said colonial writings overall projected it as the cause of hostility between Hindus and Muslims.

She said in a successful attempt to sow hatred between Muslims and Hindus, Lord Ellenborough during his address to the House of Commons in 1843 talked about bringing back the gates of Somnath temple from Ghazni, which he claimed were stolen during one of the raids of Mehmood Ghaznavi.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2015.