Textbook lessons for historians at Bengal congress

Addressing delegates, from Pakistan, Nepal, UK and Bangaldesh, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said historians are at times perceived as the ‘‘monopoly suppliers of the past’’.

‘‘But the past sometimes happens to be distorted past,’’ he added. The Speaker added that those who propagate the theory that Hindus and Muslims cannot live together should remember that the national anthem of Bangladesh was written by Rabindranath Tagore.

He warned against confusing ‘‘mythology’’ with historical fact and using ‘‘political power to settle historical debates’’. Chatterjee also expressed his desire to have an ‘‘objective’’ history of Parliament written for posterity.

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, while asserting that ‘‘mythology cannot be considered science’’, said writings in history should be objective and dispassionate. ‘‘If that does not happen, historians will lose their esteem before the public,’’ he said.