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May 12, 2002
REVIEW: Rewriting history
IT is a historical phenomenon that neighbouring countries not only fight wars against each other but at times also cooperate on economic matters and share cultural experiences. History records all the events, which determine their relationships. Some of these lead to conflicts, while others promote friendship between them. This historical material provides the tool to the ruling classes to mobilize people in favour or against the neighbouring country. This is clearly evident in the case of India and Pakistan.
There was a time in pre-Partition years, when nationalist historians in India projected the image of the country being one nation with a composite culture. The situation changed after 1947 when India and Pakistan emerged as two separate states with distinct identities. India claims to be a secular and pluralistic country while Pakistan asserts its religious identity as the raison d’etre of its separation from India. These two antithetical approaches greatly affect the historiography of the two countries which is clearly reflected in their school textbooks.
Both are very sensitive about the history textbooks which they use to construct their past. In this effort, history becomes a victim of state policies. The method that is usually used by the historians writing school textbooks is to omit any reference to those events which don’t fit into the thrust of their narratives. Or they describe such events briefly in order not to deny the reader any understanding of their cause and effect. Writers of history are also known to distort their account of incidents to adjust them to their interpretative framework. India and Pakistan have set up their official Textbook Boards that provide outlines to the writers who have to write according to official guidelines.
Krishna Kumar, a professor in the department of education at Delhi University and a well known educationist, has written the book under review to identify the contradictions in the Indian and Pakistani analysis and interpretation of history. He studies the textbooks of India and Pakistan to point out how the two differ in narrating the same events. He focuses only on the period of the freedom struggle when the seeds of communalism were sown.
Krishna Kumar points out that there are two ways in which a child acquires knowledge of history. One is through socialization with his family. A child listens to stories and poems and learns about his past. This ‘tacit knowledge’ consists of images of personalities, religion, and cultural activities.
On the other hand, school textbooks provide ‘official knowledge’, which is classified and manipulated in order to make children loyal and obedient citizens of the state. Sometimes there is contradiction in the two knowledge systems and confuses a child who is required to decide which of the two to accept as the truth.
However, he has to surrender to the textbook knowledge to pass his examination because these books are ‘prescribed’ in the course and the students are expected to know what they say. The students are not encouraged to add more material from outside the course books or to critically examine their contents. Therefore, the emphasis is on the knowledge of past events rather than the awareness of historical developments and how they have shaped the present.
After setting the theoretical framework, Krishna Kumar analyzes Pakistani and Indian history textbooks. The first difference between the two is in their treatment of the emergence of the modern period. In the Indian textbooks, the modern period begins with the arrival of the Europeans and the start of the colonization process. The Indian books deal in detail with the British period and the freedom struggle against colonial rule. The narratives end in 1947 with no details of the post- Independence period.
In Pakistani history books, the modern period begins with Partition and covers in considerable detail the post-Independence period. The freedom struggle doesn’t receive the same attention. The reason is obvious. Pakistani historians find little material to support their claim to ideology in the colonial period, except the charge that the British and the Hindus conspired against the Muslims. That is why they are not interested in focussing on the colonial era.
The two sides take markedly different views of the war of 1857, the role of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the partition of Bengal, and the foundation of the Muslim League. The breaking point that changed the relations between the two communities came in the post-1930s period. The collapse of the Khilafat and non-cooperation movements and the emergence of communalism led to the parting of ways between the Hindus and the Muslims.
Gandhi and Jinnah both emerged as great leaders on the Indian political scene. In Indian historiography, Gandhi dominates politics. Jinnah finds little space in the Indian textbooks. On the contrary, in Pakistan, Jinnah is the man who changed the whole course of history and succeeded in getting a separate homeland for the Muslims. According to Krishna Kumar, the election of 1937 and the Congress ministries in the provinces provided enough material to Pakistani textbook writers to justify their case for partition.
The sad aspect is that the textbooks of neither country give any space to the other’s point of view. For example, in Pakistani textbooks, there is no mention of the nationalist Muslims or the role of Jamiatul Ulema-i-Hind. In the case of India, the causes of the rise of Muslim nationalism are absent from the textbooks. The result is that these two antithetical points of view are producing two different mindsets that subsequently create prejudice and hatred against each other.
The question is how to minimize or eliminate these prejudices? The only solution is for the Indian and Pakistani historians to sit together and discuss in detail the events that are disputed. History could be corrected if both countries and their historians recognize the mistakes, distortion, and omission. Only then can the entire process of writing history be analyzed objectively. Textbooks which are the product of this joint exercise would impart not only knowledge of events but also create an awareness of the past and give the students a balanced perspective. Krishna Kumar’s book is an effort in this direction.
Prejudice and pride: school histories of the freedom struggle in India and Pakistan
By Krishna Kumar
Viking, Penguin Books, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017, India
Website: www.penguinbooksindia.com
ISBN 0-67-004913-1 274pp. Indian Rs395
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