The Proceedings of the 82nd session of Indian History Congress held at the Kakatiya University (4)

The Proceedings of the 82^nd session of Indian History Congress held at the Kakatiya University (4)

IHC opposing RSS for demonizing Nehru: Expressing grave concern over the growing communal politics in the country, the newly elected General President of the Indian History Congress (IHC), Prof Aditya Mukherjee stressed the need to embrace the ideology of former Prime Minister late Jawaharlal Nehru which will help ‘to explain our present and chart out a vision of the future[1]’. Delivering the General President’s address on “Jawaharlal Nehru in Our Past, Present and Future” at the 82^nd Session of Indian History Congress soon after his installation at the Kakatiya University (KU) campus here on 28-12-2023, Thursday, Prof Mukherjee said, “It is because of what Nehru stood for that he is demonized so blatantly by the communal forces today[2]. All kinds of lies and abuse are spread about him using the massive propaganda machinery that the communal forces command today[3]. Nehru is blamed for all of India’s problems for the partition of the country.”[4] Detailing the attempts to tarnish the image of Nehru by the RSS, he said, “A book called 97 Major Blunders of Nehru has now been expanded to “Nehru Files: Nehru’s 127 Historic Blunders”. The list keeps growing as new ‘facts’ are invented. He is even said to have a secret Muslim ancestry.”

Why Aditya is repeating the stuff again and again?: “The demonizing of Nehru and the values he stood for could only be done by distorting history and that is what communal forces have done blatantly,” Prof Mukherjee alleged. Summing up his speech, Mukherjee said “Nehru’s fantastic efforts to raise India from what Tagore called the ‘mud and filth’ left behind by the British has now been replaced with the Indian people being pushed back into that same ‘mud and filth’ of ignorance, obscurantism, dis-empowerment, unfreedom and above all communal hatred.” Incidentally, it is noted that he has repeated the stuff that already appeared in the “National Herald,” the Congress mouth piece[5]. Ironically, the title also appears similar, “Why they demonize Nehru.”[6] Of course, in 2015 when he addressed a seminar at AMU organised ahead of November 14, the 126^th birth anniversary of India’s first PM said[7], “it had become quite the fad to “demonize” India’s first prime minister and hold him responsible for whatever ails modern India. “This tendency can be countered with a proper reading of history”[8].

Mridula Mahajan flayed the incumbent government at the Centre: Earlier, the Chief Guest of the programme, Dr Mridula Mukherjee, Professor of History (Retd.), Jawaharlal Nehru University, in her address also flayed the incumbent government at the Centre for its attempts to misuse and distort Indian history. She stressed the need to stand up against the assault on democracy. It is not known why historians should be associated with any political party, when the talk about secularism, communalism, sectarianism, fascism and so on. Ironically, they have already been accused of holding Government jobs and as well as associating with political parties. In fact, Mridula faced such charges. When they preach to others for some values, then, they should first follow the same. We know what Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa has advised, “One should have the badge of authority for preaching, as otherwise, preaching becomes mockery”!

Mridula Mukherjee wrote “History of Congress Party”: Historian Mridula Mukherjee is a member of the editorial board that brought out the official history of the Congress, although she is the director of Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML), an autonomous body under the ministry of culture[9]. As per the rules, she is prohibited from associating with any political party[10]. “Congress and the Making of Indian Nation”, a two-volume publication brought out by the Congress and released recently during its plenary session, has finance minister Pranab Mukherjee as chief editor and commerce minister Anand Sharma as convener of the editorial board[11]. The book was released by PM, who is also the culture minister, and Congress president Sonia Gandhi[12]. There is a team of professional historians associated with the project. Mridula, her husband Aditya Mukherjee, a professor of history at Jawaharlal Nehru University, her sister Sucheta Mahajan, also in JNU’s history department and Bhashyam Kasturi, her colleague in NMML, and Rizwan Qaiser, from the department of history and culture, Jamia Millia Islamia, are all part of the team. Kasturi is a contract employee. While sources in the JNU and Jamia administration could not confirm if association with a political party is flouting service rules, in case of Mridula Mukherjee, the violation is clear. She has just over eight months left of her tenure.

What S A Nadeem Rezavi talked about: Secretary of Indian History Congress, Prof S A Nadeem Rezavi, in his welcoming address, also expressed similar views and gave a brief about how the IHC fought against the communal and dictatorial forces since its inception. He appears to be of “Anti-Modi” campaigner type, as had confronted his own VC in such an ideological war[13]. SAZ Rezavi was suspended by the AMU VC in 2016 for his objectionable comments on VC[14]. It is surprising that the historians have been contradicting or confronting each other whenever they were involved with politics. When, the AMU Vice Chancellor Lt. General (retd.) Zamiruddin Shah’s remarks on BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Mr. Narendra Modi in an interview published in The Times of India on 7 May 2014 was of appreciative nature[15], a number of History academics of AMU, JNU and Delhi University on 9 May 2014 adopted a resolution objecting to and criticising him[16].

“secular and scientific study of history”: KU VC, Prof T Ramesh, who presided over the programme, has praised the IHC for its secular and scientific study of history. He reminded the audience that the KU hosted the IHC in 1993. Registrar Prof T Srinivas Rao, outgoing General President of IHC Prof Kesavan Veluthat, and several other noted historians were present. Again the problem has been what is exactly “secular and scientific study of history”, what is “secular and scientific study ..” etc., when the IHC members have been reading, listening and watching the papers, books, speeches and acts of the elite, emeritus and popular historians.  

KU Vice-Chancellor appeals to historians to research Kakatiya irrigation system: Kakatiya University (KU) Vice-Chancellor, Prof Thatikonda Ramesh, emphasised the imperative for historians to adopt a scientific approach to studying history amidst contemporary challenges[17]. Addressing the valedictory session of the 82^nd session of the Indian History Congress (IHC), Prof Thatikonda Ramesh highlighted the dwindling interest in historical disciplines, stressing the responsibility of historians and researchers to revive this interest[18]. He underlined the crucial role of history in administration and lamented the lack of enthusiasm for social sciences, contrasting it with the rapid advancements in technology. Prof Ramesh also praised the enduring usefulness of Kakatiya tanks and irrigation systems and urged members of the IHC to spearhead extensive awareness programmes for history’s study and preservation. KU Registrar Prof T Srinivasa Rao presided over the event. General President of the Indian History Congress, Prof Aditya Mukherjee, IHC Secretary SA Nadeem Rezavi and others spoke. The conference saw 1,063 researchers presenting papers over three days, culminating in the passing of several resolutions during the session.

Valedictory session: Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka is scheduled to attend the concluding session of the IHC annual session on December 30^th 2023. However, it appears that he did not turn up.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

01-01-2024

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[1] Telangana Today, Communal forces demonizing Nehru, says Prof Aditya Mukherjee, BY UPDATED ON – 03:25 PM, THU – 28 DECEMBER 20.23

[2] https://telanganatoday.com/communal-forces-demonizing-nehru-says-prof-aditya-mukherjee

[3] Deccan Chronicle, Adopt Nehru’s ideology to protect democracy in country: IHC, DC Correspondent, Published on: December 28, 2023 | Updated on: December 28, 2023

[4] https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/in-other-news/281223/uhc-calls-for-fight-against-communal-politics.html

[5] National Herald, Why they demonise Nehru, Purushottam Agrawal, Published: 14 Nov 2022, 12:00 PM

[6] https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/why-they-demonise-nehru

[7] Times of India, Demonizing Nehru has become quite the fad : Historians, Eram Agha / TNN / Updated: Nov 12, 2015, 20:28 IST

[8] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/demonizing-nehru-has-become-quite-the-fad-historians/articleshow/49759429.cms?from=mdr

[9] Times of India, Nehru library head on Cong panel, flouts rules, Akshaya Mukul / TNN / Dec 29, 2010, 01:18 IST.

[10] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/nehru-library-head-on-cong-panel-flouts-rules/articleshow/7181440.cms?from=mdr

[11] The Telegraph, Congress confronts dark chapter 125-year history, as the party sees it, Our Special Correspondent, Published 29.12.2010, 12:00 AM.

[12] https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/congress-confronts-dark-chapter-125-year-history-as-the-party-sees-it/cid/450385

[13] Indian express, AMU prof suspended for objectionable FB post, By: Press Trust of India, Aligarh | July 24, 2014 04:34 IST

[14] https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/lucknow/amu-prof-suspended-for-objectionable-fb-post/

[15]    Radiance weekly, Academics Slam AMU VC’s Remarks on Modi, Written by…., Published on September 29, 2022  https://radianceweekly.net/academics-slam-amu-vcs-remarks-on-modi/

[16] The signatories to the resolution released by the Deputy Coordinator, Centre of Advanced Study in History, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, are Irfan Habib, Professor Emeritus, AMU; D.N. Jha, Professor of History (Retd.), Delhi University; P.K. Shukla, Formerly, Member Secretary, Indian Council of Historical Research; I.A. Khan, Professor of History (Retd.), AMU; Shireen Moosvi, Professor of History (Retd.), AMU; Mridula Mukherjee, Professor of History, J.N.U.; Ramesh Rawat, Professor of Hindi, AMU; S.A. Nadeem Rezavi, Associate Professor, AMU; Aditya Mukherjee, Professor of History, J.N.U.; Farhat Hasan, Professor of History, Delhi University; S.Zaheer Husain Jafri, Professor of History, Delhi University; Ishrat Alam, Associate Professor of History, AMU; and Shalin Jain, Associate Professor, Delhi University.

[17] Telangana Today, KU Vice-Chancellor appeals to historians to research Kakatiya irrigation system. PUBLISHED DATE – 08:54 PM, SAT – 30 DECEMBER 23

[18] https://telanganatoday.com/ku-vice-chancellor-appeals-to-historians-to-research-kakatiya-irrigation-system

The proceedings of the National seminar Buddhism and Sectarian Religious faith in India or Buddha and Anti-caste Bhakti Saints held at Acharya Nagarjuna University on March 1st and 2nd 2023 (3)

The proceedings of the National seminar Buddhism and Sectarian Religious faith in India or Buddha and Anti-caste Bhakti Saints held at Acharya Nagarjuna University on March 1^st and 2^nd 2023 (3)

01-03-2023 (Wednesday) – afternoon session: Afternoon, the second session, the following papers were presented:

Speaker / paper presenter	Title of the paper	Page no.
P. D. Satya Paul[1]	Title – not known, not listed / included in the “Abstracts” He spoke twice for nearly two hours….	?
K. V. Ramakrishna Rao[2]	The Sectarian encounters between the Buddhist and Jain faiths during the Medieval period for commercialization and communalization	34-35

P. D. Satya Paul delved upon the communal Hinduism criticizing P.V. Kane who carried on the Maxmueller’s project, Dr S. Radhakrishan for his opinion about Buddha (Buddha’s movement was a protestant type of reformative Hinduism) and Swami Vivekananda for perpetuating caste. He was suggesting about a “proto-sramanic” tradition before IVC, based on which, the Buddhism could have been evolved.

Getting ready for power-point…..

K. V. Ramakrishna Rao presented his paper, “The Sectarian encounters between the Buddhist and Jain faiths during the Medieval period for commercialization and communalization,” based on the medieval inscriptions, sculptures, paintings and literature. The question of “Himsa and Ahimsa” (violence and non-violence), karma, atma, rebirth etc., the following issues were discussed:

• Why Jainism and Buddhism flourished before and after the “golden period” of the Guptas?:
• What happened between the Arab / Mohammedan invasion and European intrusion during the 12^th to 16^th centuries?:
• The impact of the Europeans on the Jains and Buddhists during the medieval period
• The psychology of Non-violence and violence
• A Dispute between the Mahayana Buddhists and Digambar Jains over Mt Girnar (Gujarat), where all sectarian groups had encounters
• Internal and inherent factors are also responsible for the decline of Jainism and Buddhism
• Transition of faiths in Andhradesa and clash of faiths
• The Jaina-Buddhist conflicts in Karnataka and Tamilagam
• Ahimsavadis – Jains and Buddhists eating flesh
• Vegetarianism, non-vegetarianism and Jaina-Buddha dynasties
• Rivalry among the Business men and Priests
• Dynasties following sectarian faiths and their transition
• Sectarian faiths made talented workers to loose their identity
• Rivalry Among the Jains and Saivites or Sculptors and Agriculturalists?:
• Brahmins versus non-Brahmins
• Sectarian conflicts recorded in the inscriptions
• Oil, oil-mill and their euphemism in Jainism
• Was there any nexus between Jains and extremist groups like Kapalika, Kalamuka etc?:
• Syncretism, eclectism and inculturation
• In-lieu of conclusion – Commercialization and communalization of sectarianism

The Jaina monks that were defeated in the debates were punished based on their agreed condition……

This type of sculptures are found in many temples…….

Then, the following conclusions were drawn:

It could be noted in the most of the sectarian encounters of whatever nature, whether it was philosophical debate, theological polemics, right over property, manufacture and production of goods and services, imports and exports, monopoly of trade route and related issues. Thus, the following features could easily be noted working:

• Commercialization and communalization of sectarianism had been the hallmark of medieval inland and oversea trade and commerce.
• As more and more goods and services had to be manufactured and produced, more labourers, workers and technicians were required for carrying out various assembly, fabrication and construction activities.
• Such experts had to be trained, organized and made to work according the exigencies, emergencies and requirements at national and international obligations.
• Thus, such experts had to be faithful, loyal and obedient to the authority, rulers and government.
• Here, the merchant guilds, trade groups and commercialized communal organizations worked effectively aiding and abetting the rulers.
• Accordingly, most of them had to be polyglots, dubashis, sailors, warriors, pirates and profiteers also.
• Under such compulsions, complexities and commitments, social, political, commercial and maritime set-up, the moral, ethic and code of conduct were relegated to background, operated selectively and sectarianism ruled roost.
• The violators of their own imposed acts and rules were punished, prosecuted and even killed without any mercy, but, all carried on in the name of faith and religion only.
• Finally, syncretism had taken place to accommodate all deities, idols or the defied symbols in the places of worship.

Such depiction is found in the Buddhist paintings also…..

There was a discussion and questions by the Chair and Satya Paul and the paper presenter clarified. They questioned about the mentioning of Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusara and Asoka as grandfather, father and son, but, I do not find any chronological or historical issue in the lineage.

Then, the former HOD of the department, who presided over the session, was facilitated.

Former HOD of the Mahayana Buddhism centre was facilitated.

02-03-2023 (Thursday) – second day proceedings:

Speaker / paper presenter	Title of the paper	Page no.
Yadhava Raghu[3]	Dasa movement and its impact on Telugu villages bordering Karnataka: a case of Pyalakurthy village, Kurnool district[4].	37-38 46
John Weasley[5]	Siddha cults in South India.	57
Sugandha[6]	The Buddhist perspective of social sratification	5 8
N. Kanakaratnam[7]	Caste revenge on adigas and Malas.	60
Eluri Harshavardhan[8]	Egalitarian ideals of Buddhism: A repository of counter discourse in Andhradesa	49

About dasa, dasari, dasari caste etc: Dasari is a Vaishnava mendicant caste in Telangana region and Andhra Pradesh, India. They are involved in various business, trades, poojas, marriage rituals, plays and agriculture. Their traditional work is in temple service. They perform death rites in burial grounds as their main occupation. Some of them work as day laborers. They are landless. Some of the Dasari Mala work in business and agriculture. They use both modern and traditional medicines. They are not vegetarians and eat rice as a staple food. The Dasari Mala prefer marriage between cousins. The bereaved and divorced can marry again. The dead are buried rather than cremated like most Hindus. On the death of the father, sons inherit the property with the oldest son taking charge of the family estate. They observe birth and marriage rituals. They are also known as Poosala Balija, Bukka Dasari, and Krishna Balija in different areas of their habitation. However, in Karnataka, how castes with similar sounding names can be mistaken can be noted. In Karnataka, the Dasari caste comes under Category-1 whereas Channa Dasar is SC. Similarly, Bhoyi is Category-1, but Bhovi is SC. Jangama comes under the general category, but Beda Jangama is SC. Therefore, just with the word, “Dasari,” one cannot come to any conclusion. Moreover, the paper readers started with Kanakadasa story and then switched over to the Pyalakurthy village, Kurnool Dist., to claim that the “Dasari caste” people there could be connected with the “dasaris” of Karnataka. Obviously, he is confused with “dasa” of Madhwa tradition, “Dasari” caste and other “Dasari” tradition (being obedient servant / slave.)

These are some of the Tamil Siddhar as found on the temple pillars etc., dated to later medieval and modern periods….

About Siddha, Siddhi, Cittam etc: The seminar brochure claims, “Siddha Tradition in South India was evolved out of Buddhist school of Vajrayana was more prevalent among the lower strata, strived to attain equality in religious sphere. Many Siddha cult centres of present Andhra and Telangana states including Siddhavatam, Siddeswaram, Siddula Guttalu etc. are the live examples for this phenomenon. The medieval text (14-15^th CE) in couplet form ‘Navanadha Charitra’ written by Gourana also mentioned about the Siddhas.” It is not known what is the proof to claim that “Siddha Tradition in South India was evolved out of Buddhist school of Vajrayana..,” as the Tamil Siddha tradition has nothing to do with any Buddhism.  Taking the word “Siddha”( సిద్ధ), the Telugu scholars, researchers and even historians try to link them with “Siddhar, Siddha medicine” and so on, whereas, the Tamil Siddha (சித்த, சித்தர்) nothing to do with. In the process it attempts to narrate the relationship of places like Mahendragiri (of Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh) with sage Agastya (one of the very important Siddhars of Siddha medicine) and possible origins of very old common religion (Siva Siddhanla) propagated by Dakshinamurti, through his four disciples from this place. names like Siddha, Sangam, Nandi which are still used in the same sense as they were used from time immemorial. Without knowing the fundamentals, Tamil language and reading the texts of Tamil Siddhas, they misinterpret taking the words. Many list of the places, cities etc., with “సిద్ధ” in Telugu, go on interpret that all such places are connected with Siddhas since immemorial. Of course, they take the Agastya myth also for strengthening their argument.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

05-03-2023

These are imaginary pictures of 18- Tamil Siddhars…

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[1] Department of Anthropology, Andhra University – Visakhapatnam – appears to be involved in Dalit, Christian and related studies.

[2] Guest faculty, University of Madras and Visiting faculty for Annamalai University, Research Scholar, Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Madras, Chennai.

[3] Asst.Prof, History Dept, Sathya SaiUniversity for Human Excellence, Kalaburagi, Karnataka.

[4] His paper has been printed twice as shown – this shows the mechanical way of preparation of “Abstracts” without going into the details.

[5] Research scholar, Centre for Mahayana Buddhist Studies, ANU, AP.

[6] Research scholar, Centre for Mahayana Buddhist Studies, ANU, AP.

[7]  Professor, History, Kakatiya University, Warangal, Telangana.

[8] Dept. of History and Archaeology, Dravidian University, Kuppam, AP.