"Political necessities of the Indians during the last phase of British rule, underlined the importance of alliance between the two communities, and this was sought to be smoothly brought about by glossing over the differences and creating an imaginary history of the past in order to depict the relations between the two in a much more favourable light than it actually was. … But history is no respecter of persons or communities, and must always strive to tell the truth, so far as it can be deduced from reliable evidence. This great academic principle has a bearing upon actual life, for ignorance seldom proves to be a real bliss either to an individual or to a nation. In the particular case under consideration, ignorance of the actual relation between the Hindus and the Muslims throughout the course of history - an ignorance deliberately encouraged by some - may ultimately be found to have been the most important single factor which led to the partition of India. The real and effective means of solving a problem is to know and understand the facts that gave rise to it, and not to ignore them by hiding the head, ostrich-like, into sands of fiction."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
R.C. Majumdar, The History and Culture of the Indian People, Volume VI, The Delhi sultanate, Bombay, 1960, p. xxix. Quoted in Sita Ram Goel, The Calcutta Quran Petition (1986)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Historiography_of_India
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Historiography of India
87 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Historiography of India →
Related Quotes
"The idea of continuity of the Indian civilization does not suit the beliefs of this group of people. There is a serio…"
"Many of those who read history at Delhi in the mid-1970s and later, still bear the ugly scars inflicted by the though…"
"The medieval period of Indian history has been a source of propaganda for historians with ideological predilections. …"
"For those unfamiliar with modern Indian history: the Marxists, already pushy for acquiring as much power in the insti…"
"Most importantly, for the ancient period, Indian Marxist and other anti-Hindu historians posit a massive conflict (be…"
"For her class of people, a “professional historian” is a historian with academic status. They are very status-conscio…"
"But the negationists are not satisfied with seeing their own version of the facts being repeated in more and more boo…"
"What the BJP government claims to offer, what all scholarly historians want, and what is loathed by the Marxists who …"
"The facts concerning the persecution of Hindus in the pre-modern age were a matter of consensus until recently. For c…"
"One must beware of falling into a kind of uncritical Indological McCarthyism towards those open to reconsidering the …"