History in Pakistan is shifting from a parochial view of the subcontinent's past to a more inclusive reading.
Pakistan is rewriting history. From a parochial view of the subcontinent's past, it is shifting towards a more inclusive reading.
From an exclusive focus on Islam, college history books have come to include Buddhism and Hinduism. Once barred from textbooks, Mohenjodaro and Harappa now appear in them telling students how a large part of Pakistan formed the bedrock of the Indus Valley civilisation. Moreover, once unthinkable, the work of Indian historians is at present part of the curriculum, said Tahir Kamran, chairman, department of history, Government College University, Lahore.
"The scope of history has been broadened to project a liberal image of Pakistan. Most of these changes took place during former president Pervez Musharaff's rule," said Kamran, an influential academic in the country. "The studies of Indian historians -- among them Sumit Sarkar, Romila Thapar, Bipan Chandra, RC Majumdar and VD Mahajan -- form an integral part of our history texts. They go hand-in-hand with Pakistani historians like KK Aziz and Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi."
The main divergence between Indian and Pakistani historians has been the topic of Pakistan's freedom struggle, Kamran told DNA on the sidelines of an Indo-Pak peace seminar organised in Lahore recently. "While Pakistani historians have tended to
emphasise the role of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan as much as that of the
Muslim rulers, their Indian counterparts have tried to run that down," he said.
"But like in India, here, too, the role of Jinnah in the creation of Pakistan is being reviewed. He is no longer idolised. In fact, it is being questioned whether he really worked for the formation of Pakistan. Still, I feel had Jinnah been handled prudently by the then Congress leadership, the Partition could have been avoided."
Kamran said there were clear indications that Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel had tacitly agreed to "get rid of the turbulent Muslims to fulfil their political ambition of assuming power in India".
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