History should not be handmaiden of any political party: Upinder Singh

TNN

Mangaluru, 27 Mar 2015: History should not be the handmaiden of any political ideology, despite the fact that history has always been a deeply political subject, noted Upinder Singh, professor and head of department of history, University of Delhi. Averring this in the context of a question of allegations of saffronisation of texts and a slant that is given to history under a particular regime, she said if one looks at history of history, political situations have influenced the writing of history. 

 

In an informal chat with media on the sidelines of inaugural function of 24th session of Karnataka History Congress, Upinder, who is also the daughter of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh opined slant to history depending on the regime is not new. "It is very important in today’s date and age in the country, that there is practice of history, there is methodology, analysis of sources, and building of logical arguments. This should determine writing of history," she said.

 

 

Asserting that she is a professional historian, Upinder said from her own point of view, we should have history that is free from political interference of any kind. Asserting that she strongly feels history cannot be subservient to any political ideology, Upinder said she stands for liberal tradition of history which is not determined by politically oriented stand point. "This is why I feel free to critique the Right or Left history and it is necessary to find the middle ground," she said. 

 

Arguing that all histories must be questioned, Upinder said there is no final history. "I have said this in my book A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India. There is no last word in history. It is important to critique, to ask questions," Upinder said, adding that the trait of questioning is in built in to the discipline of history. It is only through the practice of questioning that one can arrive at the truths about history, she said reiterating that there is no last word about history. 

 

Asked about how she would have history remember her father, who was Prime Minister for two terms from 2004, Upinder said, "I would like him remembered as a great teacher, as a great economist and also as a great Prime Minister." Noting that there is no need to reinvent the wheel, Upinder said her sister Daman Singh has already chronicled her parent’s life in her book - Strictly Personal: Manmohan and Gursharan and that she has nothing more to add to it.