NEW DELHI: History of sorts is likely to be made in the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) — three academics from the Sangh Parivar’s history wing may join the top panel of the prestigious research body.
The terms of ICHR’s current panel ended on December 22 last year. And among the 18 panelists proposed by the council’s chief Sudershan Rao are three historians who are office-bearers of the RSS’ Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana (ABISY).
These ABISY historians are Narayan Rao, national vice-president of the Sangh’s history wing, Ishwar Sharan Vishwakarma, all-India general secretary, and Nikhilesh Guha, head of the Bengal chapter. When contacted by ET, all three confirmed their association with RSS’ history wing. The human resource development ministry is the final clearance authority for ICHR appointments. The council chief ‘s recommendations are now with the ministry.
Heading for another controversy?
Senior officials who did want to be quoted on record told ET the ministry will pick some of the 18 proposed names and that “some names were being seriously considered”.
Sudershan Rao was himself an ABISY member — the head of its Andhra Pradesh chapter — when he was appointed ICHR’s boss. The intra-academia controversy that followed Rao’s appointment as ICHR chief is likely to repeat itself should HRD ministry clear the appointment of three more RSS history wing academics to the top research body.
The ICHR chief did not respond to ET’s questions. The council chairman’s views on using Mahabharata and Ramayana as valid sources for historical research had attracted criticism from historians who have sharp ideological differences with the Sangh. Narayan Rao (73), who retired from Berhampur University, Odisha, in 2001 also subscribes to the view that Indian epics as well as texts such as Vedas and Puranas contain verifiable and historically accurate information.
He told ET there’s “enough scientific evidence to prove that many things mentioned in our Vedas and Puranas were real. The river Saraswati, for instance, is not a myth. The course of this river has been discovered by archaeologists and it should be acknowledged by historians”
Guha (68), who retired from Kalyani University, Bengal, calls himself a ” Mysore specialist”. His research work, he told ET, also includes a book on Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the founder of Bhartiya Jan Sangh, the precursor to BJP.
Asked what his priorities as a top ICHR historian would be, Guha said he would focus on researching Bengal’s “littleknown but rich tradition of Hinduism”, more work on the Gita and on Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. Vishwakarma is currently professor, ancient history, archaeology and culture, in the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University.
He said Vedas, Puranas and Vedic tribes are his areas of research interest. The ICHR chief ‘s other recommendations include current and former academics from institutions such as the Banaras Hindu University, Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, Vikram University, Ujjain, and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University, Bareilly
No comments:
Post a Comment