Distorting history…and getting paid for it

I came across this article a few days back. Although slightly dated, the points made by Shri Shourie re. the shocking state of affairs at the Indian Council of Historical Research are still valid. The saga is shocking, shameful and disgusting beyond belief.

Excerpts from ICHR’s The Eminent Entrepreneurs! by Arun Shourie (emphasis mine)

“…Answer by the Ministry for Human Resources Development to Unstarred Question number 3466 in the Rajya Sabha:

“Professor Bipin Chandra was sanctioned a sum of Rs 75000 during 1987-88 for the assignment entitled ‘A History of Indian National Congress’. A sum of Rs 57500 has been released to him till 23-6-1989. The remaining balance of Rs 17500 is yet to be released because a formal manuscript in this regard is yet to be received.”

I, therefore, wrote to the Ministry:

“Does this mean that some informal manuscript has been received ? Or that no manuscript has been received ? If the latter is the case, how is it that nine years having passed, the scholar having taken Rs 57500 for a project and not having submitted the manuscript, no action has been taken ?”

After some reminders, the Ministry eventually wrote to say:

“… it has been confirmed by ICHR that no manuscript — either formally or informally — has been received so far.”

As regards the action taken, the Ministry said, information was being obtained from the ICHR.

I am now informed in writing that the Rs 75000 allotted to this “eminent historian” for this project — “the Oral History Project” — was but a part, a small part of the total take. Bipin Chandra was given in addition Rs 200,000 by the ICSSR and Rs 400,000 through the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Neither institution has received any manuscript.

…

As nothing but nothing has turned up in the ICHR in return for its grant, the second part of my query remained : what action has the ICHR taken in the matter? I am now told, “No action has been initiated on this as Dr. Bipin Chandra is stated to be still working on the project.”  That is the position nine years after his eminence collected the money!

…it turns out that this is the pattern.

The ICHR commenced a National Movement Project — to which I shall come in a moment — to document our freedom struggle from the mid-1850’s.

Bipin Chandra took Rs 12000 to produce the volume covering 1885-86. Result? Nothing has been heard of it since. He took another Rs 12000 for the volume covering 1932-34. Outcome? “Not submitted,” says the ICHR. Being eminent, Bipin Chandra is naturally in the circle of friends among whom the “Towards Freedom Project” was parceled. To assist him to shoulder his onerous load in this regard, the ICHR has employed over the years one “regular” staff member plus eight staff members “on consolidated salary”. Result ? “Volume not submitted.”

But, to be fair, this pattern is not confined to this eminent historian alone. It has been the pattern for the entire institution manned and controlled by these “eminent historians.”

…Therefore, after some inquiries with, as journalists say, “informed sources,” I asked,

“But what about the project for documenting the National Freedom Movement from 1857 to 1936? How many volumes were to be produced under it? To whom was each volume assigned? How much was paid to each scholar? How much has been spent on each volume? How many volumes have been produced under this project ?”

The Ministry replied,

“… the Indian Council of Historical Research have stated that no project was commissioned by them to document National Movement between 1857 and 1937.”

What a foolish evasion ! All I had to do was to draw the attention of the Ministry to successive annual reports of the ICHR which had been presented to Parliament over two decades : report after report had listed this as one of the major projects which the ICHR had initiated! Please look at the account commencing from page 26 of the Annual Report for 1972-1973, I wrote; please look at the account commencing from page 16 of the Annual Report for 1973-1974, I wrote…

The result ? I am now informed that such a project had indeed been undertaken. Nineteen volumes were to have been produced. The volumes were assigned to different scholars — our eminencies as usual led the rest ! Each scholar collected Rs. 12000 per volume he had been assigned.

…

(The status of those nineteen volumes makes for depressing reading. Of the 19 volumes, only five had been submitted; 11 of these had been paid for but nothing had been submitted and three were not assigned at all! – Note by Shantanu)

…remember that they were paid out in the mid-1970s, when they amounted to much, much more than they do in these days of scams..

And what about the project to document the Praja Mandal Movement, the freedom movement in the princely states ?, I inquired. …

The ICHR…furnished the details…the Project was assigned to one of the key-point men of the “eminent historians” in the Council, R. C. Shukla. Staff was assigned. Materials are reported to have been collected between 1976 and 1982. A sum of Rs 435,000 was spent. The net outcome ? “No publication has come out on PMM [the Praja Mandal Movements], to the best knowledge of the Council,”

What about the project which was undertaken to document “Peasants Movements” ?, I inquired.

Fourteen volumes were to be produced, the ICHR says. Six of these were assigned among three scholars at Rs 12000 per volume. One of these has been published. Two are listed as “Not Submitted.” And three as “Submitted but not traceable.”

What about the “Economic Data and Statistics Project,” which was listed with such fan-fare in the Annual Reports till some years ago ?, I asked.

Six volumes were to be produced under it, the ICHR says…as against the six volumes which were to have been published, not one has been published.

…the “Project on Documentation on Economic History.” What about this one ?, I asked.

The project was commenced in 1992, says the ICHR. Seventeen volumes were to be produced between 1992 and 1997. The total cost was to be Rs 25 lakhs. As of today, says the ICHR, no volume has been published. And a cool Rs 195,000 have already been spent.

What about the “Medieval Sources Project” ?, I asked.

After some search, the ICHR has supplied the following list of the scholars to whom the work was assigned, the subject he was to cover, the money sanctioned to each, and the result :

1. Satish Chandra & Co. : Hindi translation of “Early Sources of Akbar’s Reign”; Not completed, money not indicated.
2. Irfan Habib : Akbarat-e-Aurangzeb : Rs 27000; Not completed.
3. Moonis Raza : “Atlas of the Mughal Empire” : Rs 22400; Not completed.
4. Anis Faruqi : Tashir-ul-Aqwani : Rs 9000; Not completed.
5. Satish Chandra : Documents on Social and Economic History : Rs 23000; Not completed.
6. P. Saran : Tarikh-i-Akbari : Rs 18500; Submitted but not traceable

…

and so it goes on and on.

The article is a fine example of thorough “digging” and a diligently conducted inquiry. What is very worrying as one reads through, is how an institution – that should primarily be focusing on serious historical research – became part of a political agenda and a tool for promoting ideological bias…

Sad and disgusting. If you ever wondered why I deeply distrust the “history” we have been taught, now you know.

Related Posts: Lies and half-truths in the name of national integration and

somewhat more controversial: Taj Mahal: The Biggest Whitewash in Indian History?

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