#thehistoryproject

[theastortheatredeal]

The History Project. Tuesday 16th April 7.30pm.

[letterfromnowhere]

Got this excellent vintage button from #thehistoryproject booth. #bostonpride2016 #boston (at Boston City Hall Plaza)

[streamsmith]

Two True Truths

A lot has been said about the disparities in Indian and Pakistan history textbooks.

It saddens me to know that what I have always perceived to be true and irrefutable is, in fact, just one point of view. It saddens me to know that someone who grew  just 300 miles west of Delhi perceives the occurrence of same events in an antithetically different light .It saddens me to know that symbiotic relationships get depicted as parasitic ones. But more than anything, it saddens me to know that there is, after all, no objective arrangement of facts.

Consider, for example, the following versions of the same sequence of events (source: The Hindu):

Excerpt One:

In 1947, when Hari Singh, the ruler of Kashmir, opted to stay independent, Pakistani armed intruders from Pakistan attacked Kashmir. Hari Singh then signed an agreement to join India, and the Indian army was sent in to defend Kashmir.

Excerpt Two:

Hari Singh started a brutal campaign to drive out Muslims from Kashmir. Over 200,000 people in the princely State, supported by the tribesmen of the Northwest Frontier Province, were successful in liberating a large area of Kashmir from the Maharaja’s control. So Hari Singh was forced to turn to India for help and in return acceded to India.

Needless to say, the former is from an Indian history textbook and the latter from a Pakistani one. And this is, but just one benign example. Many, many more acerbic ones exist.

I get scared to think of the impact of such disparities  on Indian and Pakistani youth. A child in rural India, who perhaps lacks motivation and more importantly lacks the means to explore beyond what his textbook says, would grow up hating his neighbors. Where education should foster peace, it ends up sowing seeds of animosity. And patiently waits for forests of hatred to prosper. In multiples of two.

Is there a solution?  The easiest would be to give an objective representation of facts. But that, sadly, does not exist. I share credible Indian primary sources of information - they share Pakistani ones that are even more. I write something completely devoid of emotion and it still end up sounding biased - they try the same and fail the same.

Given the subjectivity inherent in facts, perhaps the best step forward is to just make that subjectivity completely transparent. Perhaps we should make the transition from the absolute to the relative - make history less about memorization and recitation of "true" facts and more about  perceptions - place  differing narratives next to each other in textbooks and let children form their own opinions.

As I was researching this idea online, I realized how late of an entrant I was. The History Project, an initiative started by three inspiring Pakistanis, has been already pursuing exactly what I am suggesting: juxtaposing the contrasting versions of our shared history and letting students critically evaluate and question what hitherto was unquestionable.

I laud the History Project and sincerely hope it brings about lasting change and continuing peace.