Beware of historians

Don’t trust your history because it is what the rulers always wanted you to believe. “Better read the account of your past with a pinch of salt,” Mr Right smiled. “I am thinking of sending all my history books to a junk seller.”

“Not a bad idea, but can you tell me the reason for this sudden change of heart? I thought you were a great admirer of historians,” I quizzed him.

“It was before I went to listen to top historians recently,” Mr Right said. “They generally confuse us, but I found the session on ‘Writing history’ at the Fifth Karachi Literary Festival of Oxford University Press quite revealing.”

“Don’t tell me you missed the puppet show,” I said.

“The speakers at the history session advised people to stay away from history written by ghost writers at the behest of kings and bigwigs of society and I thought they were talking about the puppet shows,” Mr Right said.

“Mubarak Ali castigated puppet historians who played to the tune of those in power.”

“A ‘people’s historian’ indeed, he hates those who love to distort history and legitimise an ideology,” I agreed.

“Moderated by Syed Jaffar Ahmed, the session produced honest reviews of current practices in history writing in both India and Pakistan.”

Indian scholar Mushirul Hasan advised historians on both sides of the border to maintain the sanctity of the past and explore common ground to promote objectivity. He thought diversity of thought in certain matters was better than an unlikely unanimity in all matters.”

“I am glad that exclusive sessions were devoted to historians to separate them from fiction writers and novelists, although some history books too could be read like fiction,” I said.

“Ali, Hamida Khuro and other participants warned against making history a work of fiction,” Mr Right stressed.

“The focus on history was timely, and the presence of so many renowned historians and scholars including Rajmohan Gandhi generated great public interest in the process of self discovery,” I said.

“As Pakistanis we too are currently trying to grapple with history,” Mr Right observed. “Most people are confused and are unable to understand why this country was created.”

“Most of them believe it was created for the Muslims, but there are the others who think the country was formed to create Muslims,” I said. “Even the objectives of each province are different.”

“Punjab gives priority to agriculture, Sindh stresses on culture,” Mr Right remarked. “And Balochistan wants to see its own big dreams come true.”

“The people there want more rights and face more fights,” I said.

“But Khyber Pakhtunkhwa insists on creating pure Muslims only,” Mr Right said. “They are now changing books which they think are not good enough for this purpose.”

“I love Sindh that draws inspiration from its history,” Mr Right said. “The Pakistan People’s Party’s Sindh Festival began at Mohenjodaro, the ruins of a great civilisation.”

“This was to remind the people how civilised Sindh was more than 5,000 years ago,” I said.

“We need to resurrect the same old spirit of brotherhood and community peace that was the hallmark of this region. We must start respecting each other. Let’s launch a ‘do-it-yourself’ plan to change everything,” Mr Right said.

“The problem is that we don’t follow the guidelines given by the founder of the nation,” I lamented.

“Unfortunately, history quotes him saying different things at different times; the people are confused,” Mr Right said.

“Somebody asked historians what they would do when a leader’s utterances are contradictory. ‘Forget him,’ one of them suggested.”

“Didn’t somebody in the audience mind it?” I asked.

“Nobody,” Mr Right said. “Everybody has already forgotten him.”

Najmul Hasan Rizvi is a former assistant editor of Khaleej Times