Has the real story of the Indian freedom struggle been told? If no, why do you think it is so? And how have so many people for so many years uncritically accepted the version of this story in currency even to this day?
The Story of the Indian Freedom Struggle
– September 11, 2008Posted in: Indian Politics
Let me try,
It was not about WHETHER we got freedom.
It was not about the TERMS on which we got freedom.
It was about negotiating what happens to the institutions already in place AFTER WE GOT FREEDOM.
“The point is where is the alternate story?”
Here:
http://www.bharatvani.org/books/
Hey Sandeep, I hear there were some bomb blasts in Delhi. Must be attempts by those damn pseudo-secularists to destabilise and undermine the BJP government there.
No. And I am afraid it will never be told… at least not in foreseeable future.
Sandeep I have a question, when we say ‘Struggle for freedom’ what are we referring to?
Did this struggle was only against British or India has STILL been struggling for freedom since first Islamic invasion?
Have we really got “Freedom”? If my ‘freedom’ mean only to get to ‘Vote’ once in a while – then surely it is.
Kedar…
I agree completely with you. MKD just took over from Bal, Gopal and Pal and British lackeys like Motilal and then his son used MKD to further their agendas.
These lines …
“de di hamein aazaadi bina khadga bin dhaal,
saabarmati ke santh tu ne kar diyaa kamaalâ€
… heap insults on so many Name less, face less Indians who braved Bullets, Lathis and those who were trampled upon by the British forces. These Congress Netas then happily get self arrested and enjoyed the British Hospititality in so called jails! Some of them Did their “Experiments with Truth” some wrote long letters to “Dear Daughter”…
Between them selves these “Greats” decided who would be Mahatama and who would be the King!
PI.
Well, this is exactly what is happening even today. Today’s propaganda invariably creeps into tomorrow’s history lesson.
And the Congress are the real wizards of such political spin. For e.g. a lot of us unknowingly consider MMS to be the father of Indian economic reforms, while the truth is, that he was (and still is) neither a visionary nor a reformist. Just a bureaucrat who reacts only when pushed to the wall.
>> so many people for so many years uncritically accepted the
>> version of this story in currency even to this day
The point is where is the alternate story?
@Sandeep, I don’t see any links behind “real” and “version” they’re simply underlined and bolded text. Am I missing something, or did you forget to link those words to stories?
kc,
ever heard of the saying, “history repeats itself because we don’t care to learn from it when it happens?”
Boss,
We have a ton of problems today. Why are you taking this and breaking your head?
We seem to be too tied to the past. Lets focus our energy in solving the many millions of issues that are there today rather than all this.
Well, the role of Gandhi in uniting India and the respect he carried among the masses cannot be doubted, but look at the mukhda of this song:
“de di hamein aazaadi bina khadga bin dhaal,
saabarmati ke santh tu ne kar diyaa kamaal”
This is the kind of deification that results in distortion of history. Gandhi was NOT either directly or singly responsible for Indian independence. The British Empire, if not for Herr Hitler (who razed a third of London to ground and destroyed the British economy), could have easily tolerated and amused a few more MK Gandhis…
History is written by the victors.
In India, history is written even by Ramachandra Guha. From that, you can get a good idea about the quality of historiography in India.
Different topic..
The Supreme Court of India always asserted that reservations cannot exceed 50%. The idea is that while reservation may help uplift weaker sections, we cannot justify proportionate representation based on caste or religion in jobs and educational institutions.
This guy, Justice Balakrishnan was in such haste to clear all hurdles to reservations in Central educational institutions but now appears dumb and paralyzed on the issue of reservations exceeding 50% in several states including Tamil Nadu? This paralysis on the part of Supreme Court emboldened Rajasthan to exceed the 50% limit that the Supreme Court was previously so adamant about. Andhra Pradesh is next. These states are also opposed to any creamy layer provision.
When we talk about freedom struggle, the first question which needs to be addressed is what is the period of time during which we were under foreign colonial rule. There is a strong case to extend this period to include the years during which the country was under Muslim rule. But this fact will NEVER be acknowledged by the pseudo-historians of NCERT and JNU.
Secondly, I agree that history is written by victors, which in this case is Congress, since it came to power immediately after independence. The Indian freedom struggle that is taught in schools is akin to the history of Congress party prior to independence. All other political forces that worked for India’s freedom are either demonised or belittled.
In keeping with the Congress agenda, the freedom struggle as told in schools, also engages in minorityism in some form- for example, Muslim freedom fighters are highlighted to counter the (correct?) impression that Hindus were the only ones who fought for freedom even when their (Muslim freedom fighters’) role in freedom struggle is doubtful (Syed Ali of Aligarh comes to mind immediately).
Another notion that is put forth is the notion of a mass movement against British rule under the leadership of Gnadhi. But this is doubtful. Probably this was done to give an impression of Congress’s hegemony over the freedom struggle. I will be keen to know how many of our grandparents participated in the freedom struggle (my grand parents did not!)
There is, therefore, a need for alternate versions of history. But I am not sure if these versions exist.
“Real story” of the freedom struggle would be akin to seeing Rashomon. Everyone involved would have his own version & interpretation.
History is written by the victors.
Incomplete post or post in parts?