NCERT creates history, documents Sangh-Left duel

Lal, whose textbook based on the new curriculum replaces R.S. Sharma’s, puts his predecessor in the ‘Marxist School of History’ category which, he says, gained influence after Independence.

‘‘Being allergic to religion and spirituality, their irreverence for saints and sages is too obvious,’’ Lal writes, though he also admits their contribution to ancient Indian history writing. He describes ‘‘the new school’’ of history writing as a ‘Multi-disciplinary Approach’.

He also mentions the names of Marxist historians whose ideal was ‘‘Soviet Union’’. He writes in his textbook, ‘‘D.D. Kosambi can be called the first among the pioneer of this school of thought. D.R. Chanana, R.S. Sharma, Romila Thapar, Irfan Habib, Bipan Chandra and Satish Chandra are some of the leading Marxist historians of India.’’

‘‘Though not all of them,’’ clarifies Professor Arjun Dev who spearheaded the Left parties’ campaign in the NCERT textbook debate, ‘‘are historians of ancient India.’’

Lal, however, has tried to rectify some of the damages created by the debate generated when the new Class VI Social Sciences textbook, released a few weeks ago, forgot to mention Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination in the section on contemporary Indian history. His new textbook begins with ‘‘Gandhiji Talisman’’.

But before introducing his analysis and understanding of the Harappan and Vedic civilizations which fuelled the textbook debate, Lal debunks the entire gamut of ‘Imperialist Historians’ from William Jones (who translated Shakuntala) to Max Mueller, who he writes, were ‘‘perforce guided by preconditions imposed by the belief in the Genesis and to counter all the writing that were projecting India’s past in terms of great civilization and Indian philosophy and thoughts indicating great antiquity for origins of the universe and human beings.’’

The book has an extensive glossary. It describes Sati as ‘‘A virtuous woman who has immolated herself on the funeral pyre of her husband.’’ Say NCERT officials: ‘‘That is how it was in Ancient India.’’ Lal was not available for comments.