“In 1986 in his A History of Indian Freedom Struggle, E.M.S. Namboodiripad acknowledged that communists had collaborated with the British during the ‘Quit India Movement….‘”
(Social Scientist Press, Trivandrum, 1986)
“Is it possible that our Marxists have never read or even heard of what Guru Nanak himself had to say about Muslim invasions and Muslim rule?
khurasaan khasmaanaa kiyaa Hindustaan daraayaa
Having subjugated Khuraasaan, Babar terrified Hindustan
aapai dos na deyee kartaa jam kar Mughal chadaayaa
So that blame does not come on Him, the Creator has sent the Mughal as the messenger of death…..”
Intense research, extensive study, and unflinching patience have together given us this wonderful work of great national importance. Mr. Arun Shourie who is introduced as a scholar, author, former editor and minister on the first page of the book, is one of the most rational voices on India’s past, present, and future. In this excellent study, he has peeled one by one, the lies and adulteration brought into effect by the Marxist Historians of our country. The events and cases of fraud, conceit, arrogance on part of such Historians who had long ruled all the centers of learning viz. ICHR (Indian Council of Historical Research), JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University), have been discussed in great detail and clarity. The book is fraught with evidences, proofs, and citations to explain how our history has been doctored by the so-called Historians of communist shades to serve the ‘Only Fatherland (Soviet Union)’. Page after page, chapter by chapter, Mr. Shourie has refuted all the false claims of the Marxist Historians and tried to establish the facts in the most brilliant way. Right from the days I started taking interest in the history of India, I noticed one great irony. The irony was that I was not studying my history. The history I was being taught was that of my invaders, my destroyers, and my tormentors. Most of the students in our country today know much less of Maharana Pratap or a Shivaji than what they know of Akbar and Aurangzeb. Should we trace our history to the struggle of ours or should we trace it to the success of the invaders? It might be painful, it might hurt us but should we forget our wounds to celebrate the glory of the ones who inflicted those wounds? A rational study is what we need, placing the facts as they are on the table and then decide for ourselves. Mr. Shourie indulges in this craft beautifully and has presented us with data points on the dilution and at times poisoning of our history. There is no reason to imagine things as the left historians have done when we have facts, recorded facts of those times by the historians of contemporary invaders. Why should we trust an account of destruction of Nalanda that was written 500 years after the event when an account has been given by none other than Minhaj-ud-din who documented the facts in the contemporary history about the achievements of Muhammad Ikhtiyar-ud-din –
“The greater number of inhabitants of that place were Brahmans, and the whole of those Brahmans had their heads shaven (This is the usual description of Buddhist monks among Muslim historians of the period.), and they were all slain. There were a great number of books there; and when all these books came under the observation of the Musalmans, they summoned a number of Hindus that they might give information respecting the import of those books; but the whole of the Hindus had been killed…. (Maulana Minhaj-ud-din in Tabakat-i-Nasiri)”
Within 40 years of the destruction, the Tibetan monk Dharmaswamin came to India in AD 1234. Dr. Altekar is quoted about his description of Nalanda after 40 years –
“When Dharmaswamin reached Vaisali on his way to Bodh Gaya, the town was all deserted on account of the apprehended arrival of a Muslim force. People used to desert their houses by day and come back to them at night. Vikramsila had been completely destroyed before 1206 A.D. and its foundation stones had been hurled into the Ganga. …. Dharmaswamin himself had to flee away for seventeen days…. (Biography of Dharmaswamin, (Chag lo tsa-ba Chos-rje-dpal)).”
Mr. Shourie then boldly contrasts the Marxist account of the same, quoting D.N. Jha from his presidential address at the Indian History Congress – “A Tibetan tradition has it that the Kalacuri King Karna (eleventh century) destroyed many Buddhist temples and monasteries in Magadha, and the Tibetan text Pag Sam Jon Zang refers to the burning of the library of Nalanda by some ‘Hindu fanatics”.”
The premise and the conclusion – both have been debunked by Mr. Shourie effectively in the subsequent exercise of fact-finding in the book. Mr. Shourie has brought out a lethal combination of rationality and research in this book. This is a must read for all the Indians, and more so for the leftists who have looked down upon this country through their own customized glasses tinted with allegiance to Marxism, Leninism, and Communism. It has revealed many sides of India to me on a personal level and I hope it does so for many others. Barring a couple of typos here and there, the book excels in its language and sentence formations. The writer has a very disarming way of putting facts that might leave the opponents baffled and running for cover. Talking of cover, the cover page of the book is highly innovative, clever and appealing to the eyes. You can judge this book by its cover. It is an easy to read book with about 372 pages.The book has been published by Harper Collins.
The book ends with a few words of caution for the ones who are out to replace these so-called historians. He very clearly argues that the answer for a book that insinuates falsity must be answered by a better book, and not by agitations or bans. That’s what this book is – a better book to tame all other ill-conceived books of our times. A decaying idea that Marxism is, must be countered with a better idea and not just negativity and anger towards it. In doing so, we must not become a China – that moved on to State Capitalism from the path of Socialism! How immaculate were the words of George Orwell – “All men are created equal, but some are more equal than others!” Mind turning a page from Animal Farm?
Teach young minds and they accept without question. What I found queer is that, even as a grown up, and a history enthusiast, this thought never occurred to me. Maybe the wrong was too deep to question. Thanks for the perspective!
Thank you for the views. Much needed to be explored and known. More of such books are needed to show us the mirror.
Finally a book questioning the authenticity and value of our textbooks :)! While I find the emotion behind writing this book absolutely necessary especially at such times, but I also find the book by its various reviews and your description to be not from an absolute neutral standpoint. But the thought, where you mention of us learning more about our invaders than our countrymen who struggled at the hand of these countrymen is absolutely true. It makes an important read for one who walks on the path to change the education system of our country.
Thank you for your comments. I am glad you understand the need of such works. The book was first published in 1998. Regarding the neutrality, I am not sure what reviews you have referred to. If it is a deduction from my thoughts on the book, I would request you to substantiate it.