Eminent historian Prof Irfan Habib questions the whole BJP project to rewrite Indian history

New Delhi: In an exclusive interview to India News Stream, Eminent historian Prof Irfan Habib has questioned the BJP project to rewrite Indian history saying the way their government in the past has done it and the way the current one is doing is hardly a correction of the history written by British historians.

”Indian people will be more illiterate,” Prof Habib said when asked about how the rewriting of Indian history as being undertaken by the BJP will affect the coming generations.

”You cannot change history, you can only lie about it,” he said in an extensive and exclusive video interview with Indian News Stream.

He was asked how he assessed the British contribution to Indian history in the light of the BJP argument that the history written by English historian was not balanced and they were guided by their Government’s colonial interests. Changes were made in history books during Vajpayee’s tenure, and now the Modi Government is proposing a massive revision of history. Home Minister Amit Shah recently said that there was need to write history from India’s point view.

Prof Habib’s view was that history is history it cannot be written from anyone’s point of view. What has happened has happened.

During the interview, he also sought to debunk theories of the Indian origin of Aryans and the view that the caste system was introduced in India by the Muslims.

He also answered questions on frequent allegations that Muslims’ had failed to assimilate themselves with the Indian culture and society. ”It is more a case of Muslims being singled out than a case of Muslims singling themselves out,” he said.

Pls watch the full interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-MztpdWUnI )

—INDIA NEWS STREAM