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R Madhavan hits back at older History curriculums that didn’t focus enough on Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism. He further calls out the British for ‘whitewashing’ history.
Recently, NCERT removed all Mughal and Delhi Sultanate references from their class 7 history books.
R Madhavan weighed in on the ongoing debate around historical representation in school curricula, while responding to allegations of creative liberties taken in Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh.
“I might get into trouble for saying this, but I’ll still say it,” he told News18 Showsha in an exclusive interview. “When I studied history in school, there were eight chapters on the Mughals, two on the Harappa and Mohenjo-daro civilizations, four on British rule and the freedom struggle, and just one chapter on the southern kingdoms — the Cholas, Pandyas, Pallavas, and Cheras.”
“The British and the Mughals ruled us for close to 800 years, but the Chola Empire is 2,400 years old. They were pioneers of sea travel and naval power. They had spice routes that extended to Rome. Where’s that part of our history? Where’s the mention of us building temples all the way to Angkor Wat with our mighty naval forces? Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism spread to China. People in Korea speak half Tamil because that’s how far our language reached. And we encapsulated all of this in just one chapter,” he added.
Madhavan pointed out that the Mughal dynasty previously occupied a disproportionately large section of school history textbooks. Interestingly, there has been an ongoing debate over the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)’s decision to remove all references to the Mughal Empire and the Delhi Sultanate from Class 7 history textbooks. These sections have been replaced with content on ‘sacred geography,’ the Maha Kumbh festival, and government initiatives such as Make in India and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao.
Lashing out at those who curated this syllabus, Madhavan asserted, “Whose narrative is this? Who decided the syllabus? Tamil is the oldest language in the world, but nobody knows about it. The scientific knowledge hidden in our culture is being mocked right now.” According to him, Kesari Chapter 2 is a step towards changing the narrative. “If we have to set things right, don’t blame us for taking small liberties. Tell us only if we’ve changed the narrative. Blame us only if we come up with an outcome that isn’t true to history. Don’t blame us for bringing the truth about history. The easiest way to discredit us is by saying that we took liberties,” he said.
He further expressed his disappointment with how history has been reimagined by the British. “General Dyer and his granddaughter said we were a set of terrorists and looters who deserved to be shot. He stopped shooting because he ran out of bullets. How can you whitewash history to such an extent that you create a false narrative? Many of us may believe that humne Jallianwala Bagh mein badmaashi kiye honge because that’s what their version of history teaches us. Going back to what I said, I shouldn’t be getting into trouble for this, because it’s a fact,” Madhavan remarked.
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