o o o
History can’t be dominated by one identity: Romila
Lectures by Romila, Teesta on nationalism at JNU
It was a full house at JNU on Sunday, with historians
Romila Thapar and Harbans Mukhia delivering the much-talked about
lecture on nationalism. Their lecture was followed by social activist
Teesta Setalvad addressing the crowd.
Regarding
herself as “one of the dinosaurs of JNU”, who joined the varsity in
November 1970, Ms. Thapar said she was deeply depressed after the
immediate incidences that followed the pro-Afzal Guru event held on
campus.
“I thought it was an attempt to break JNU,”
the renowned historian confessed, adding that it is expected of a
varsity to critically enquire into what’s happening in society.
Speaking
about the nation and history, she said: “History is essential to a
national ideology, but it has to be a shared history that binds people
together. It cannot be a history dominated by only one identity because
nationalism does not exist on only one identity. It is all inclusive.”
She
traced the Aryan race and noted that it was a theory on which much of
the Hindutva ideology hinges. Going beyond anti-colonial nationalism,
which was secular and thus inclusive, she dwelled upon the Hindu and
Muslim saying that both endorsed the two-nation theory aimed at
establishing two separate nations.
“Unlike
anti-colonial, these communal ideologies excluded everyone, except those
of their own religion. They were not anti-colonial, they were simply
hostile to each other. The two such organisations were the Muslim League
and the Hindu Maha Sabha. The Hindu Maha Sabha was gradually superseded
by the RSS and various organisations of that kind with its ideology
Hindutva,” she said.
The students seemed quite pleased with her ideas.
“I
liked the part where she said nationalism draws on reliable history and
not just on anyone’s fantasy of the past,” said Nisam Asaf.
Beginning
on a lighter note, Mr. Mukhia said: “Debating in JNU is like an anti-
ageing treatment, as the institution was set up decades back with an
idea of producing students who can question the established truth.”
Warning
against the habit to “essentialise” things, he added: “Whenever we talk
of Kanhaiya Kumar, we tend to essentialise him as a Hindu boy above
anything else. Umar Khalid has been declaring from the house tops that
he is an atheist, but we connect every dot with him being a Muslim
because of his name.” The lectures, moderated by Mr. Kumar, had Ms.
Setalvad next.
Saying that JNU had become a “beacon
of hope” for students across the country, she called for creating a
“coalition” to defeat the RSS and the Right-wing agenda.
“They
want 15 years so they can make India a Hindu rashtra. It may be
difficult, problematic or complex, we will have to come together to
create groups to fight this agenda.”
o o o
A report from The Times of India - 7 March 2016 |