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History & Civics

Mahatma Gandhi said, "Communal harmony could not be permanently established in our country so long as highly distorted versions of history were taught in her schools." State your views on this statement and justify it by giving examples.

Muslim League

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Answer

The manner in which Indian history was interpreted in those days contributed to the growth of communal thinking among the Hindus and the Muslims.

  1. Some British and communal historians divided Indian history into the Hindu and the Muslim periods. The rule of Turks, Afghans and Mughals was called the Muslim rule, where the rulers were said to be the followers of Islam and their subjects, the followers of other religions. In the so-called Hindu period, Muslim rulers were dubbed as foreign invaders who had settled in India.
  2. The British and communal historians ignored the notion of a composite culture in India and tried to create a rift between the two communities. They failed to interpret that the diversity was primarily class-wise and region-wise and not religion-wise.
  3. Some communal historians highlighted the myth that Indian society and culture had reached great heights during the ancient period but was declining during the medieval period which was dominated by Mughal rulers. They did not give much importance to the contribution of the medieval period to the development of Indian economy, religion, art, literature, culture and society.
  4. The communal bias was propagated through poetry, drama, novels, short stories, newspapers, etc.

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