Aligarh, India – India’s Hindu nationalist authorities has removed chapters on centuries of Muslim rule within the subcontinent, together with these of the Mughals, from some college textbooks.

The authorities, led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has additionally eliminated references to the contribution of Muslims within the nation’s freedom wrestle in opposition to the British colonial rulers.

In the textbooks revised by a government-run academic physique, historic India has been glorified, usually with out the help of historic details.

Historians say the revision of faculty textbooks is part of the BJP’s Islamophobic project to disclaim Muslims their place in India’s historical past.

Al Jazeera spoke to historian Irfan Habib, a globally famend authority on Mughal historical past, to know the BJP’s undertaking of rewriting historical past and the influence it is going to have on information dissemination within the South Asian nation – residence to 200 million Muslims.

Al Jazeera: Why is the BJP eradicating Mughal and different Muslim rulers from college textbooks?

Irfan Habib: Well, it’s not solely [about] eradicating the Mughal rulers. They are literally attempting to communalise Indian historical past by both eradicating or denigrating Muslims. But this is just one a part of the BJP undertaking, the opposite half is just not solely omission however myth-building.

Al Jazeera: Can you discuss concerning the current modifications in class textbooks in India?

Habib: In the traditional Indian historical past syllabus really helpful by the UGC [University Grants Commission, the body that governs the universities in India], the caste system is omitted from historical past. It claims Muslims launched the caste system throughout the medieval interval.

Every advantage is to be credited to historic Indian civilisation.

It is just not merely bias, however lies and falsehoods are being glorified. This Aryan enterprise is rather like the Nazis.

by Irfan Habib, Historian

According to the brand new draft BA [Bachelor of Arts] historical past syllabus proposed by the UGC, India is meant to be the unique residence of the Aryans. It declares that Aryans went from right here to civilise the world.

Historians should show by establishing details, they’ll’t manufacture details. You can’t create an Aryan race. And that is an insult to Sanskrit, as a result of truly in earlier Sanskrit textual content, Arya is an space in Iran. Iran is plural of Arya. Actually, Iran means [the land of] Aryans.

Now you make Aryans right into a race, like Hitler did. Ancient Iranian and Rig Vedic Sanskrit are very shut, they’re sister languages. Arya means a really respectable and noble particular person, it doesn’t imply the race. From there onwards, you see it’s not solely anti-Muslim, it’s anti-reason.

Al Jazeera: Can you discuss concerning the Indian information system and the way it’s being now framed by the Hindu far proper?

Habib: I recognise that historic sources are such that they’ll have a Hindu communal interpretation, Muslim communal interpretation, and you may have a Marxist interpretation.

When the Organiser [magazine published by far-right Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP’s ideological mentor] printed an article saying that Maan Singh constructed the Taj Mahal, historian Ramesh Chandra Majumdar wrote to them, saying “I won’t read your paper now and you are not entitled to publish any of my articles”. Majumdar got here from the Hindu communal college of historians, however nonetheless, he was an expert and didn’t settle for any unproven reality, whether or not for historic or medieval India.

Al Jazeera: The Hindu proper has at all times thought-about the Mughals as outsiders. Now they’re additionally attacking and othering Muslim leaders akin to freedom fighter Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and 18th-century ruler Tipu Sultan.

Habib: The exclusion of Azad is anti-Muslim. They don’t wish to present that any Muslim was concerned in India’s freedom motion.

In case of Tipu Sultan, it’s a complete reversal of the nationwide concern. Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru [India’s first prime minister] and others at all times had excellent phrases for Tipu. The suppression of the Malabar revolt by Tipu can’t be justified. But that could possibly be stated of virtually any ruler of that point. But what he did for Mysore and modernisation of its economic system, and his battle in opposition to the British colonialists can’t be put aside. I ought to level out that the Indian History Congress in 1999 printed three volumes on Tipu. So, Indian historians usually are not in settlement with the BJP.

Al Jazeera: Names of cities and roads with Muslim names are being erased. How will it influence public reminiscence about Muslims and their historic heritage?

Habib: They wish to destroy public reminiscence. Aurangabad’s unique identify was Khirki and it was once more based by Muslim Malik Ambar, an African. So Malik Ambar is an outsider as a result of he’s an African and he’s additionally a Muslim, therefore he can’t be named. You can’t name it Ambarnagar which you must if you’re desirous about historical past or you must name it Khirki. But Sambhajinagar [Aurangabad’s new name] is not sensible as a result of Sambhaji by no means went to Aurangabad.

Taj Mahal is a greenback earner. But they silently promote the favored notion that Taj Mahal was initially a Shaivite temple. The English [colonial rulers] in an effort to shield the Taj from lightning put up a conductor. Now the BJP and its supporters name the conductor a Trishul [trident, a holy Hindu symbol]. It is this type of fashionable misperception that they’re making.

Al Jazeera: Why does the BJP wish to rewrite historical past? The undertaking has two features: the demonisation of the Mughals and the glorification of the Hindu previous. Can you elaborate on that?

Habib: Their goal is to demonise Muslims, together with the Mughals. You see, they’ve quite a lot of issues. Let me spell them out for you. The phrase Hindu is Arabic. Why don’t they first throw it out? Religion itself is a Semitic idea delivered to India, now they [BJP] are attempting to form Hinduism in keeping with it.

In reality, there isn’t a use of the phrase Hindu in Sanskrit literature till the 14-Fifteenth century. And even the Vijayanagar emperors referred to as themselves Hindu Rai Suratran, that’s Sultan over Hindu Rai. This may be very attention-grabbing how the phrases developed. But right here you possibly can see that you’re making use of to Indian non secular historical past ideas which have come from Islam.

They are making use of fantasies like India being the mom of democracy. No historian has admitted that India was the mom of democracy. Rig Veda talks about Rajas, which implies tribal chief. Yes, you discover point out of democracy in historic Greece and Rome however by no means discover it in India, you by no means discover it in China, you don’t discover it in Iran. I say present me a critical historian of historic India who has stated so.

The Sanskrit identify for that interval is Mahajanpada, which doesn’t imply democratic republic. It means tribes. No critical historian that I’ve learn – communal or in any other case – ever claimed there was democracy in historic India. Removing caste system from historic India is completely denying historical past.

Al Jazeera: The BJP says historic wrongs are being set proper. What was fallacious within the textbooks? Critics say myths are being pushed as historical past. As a historian, what do you say to that?

Habib: You see, I can provide one instance of the Ahoms of Assam. Now should you have a look at the speeches on Ahoms by [India’s] Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, they current the Ahom as the best nationalist and the Mughals as foreigners. But they neglect that Ahom language is Thai language, that their descendants have began calling themselves Thai Ahoms. Today they’re each Hindus and Muslims. They have been clearly Thai, they weren’t Hindu.

So you might be revising not solely historical past but in addition creating myths. And if they are saying they drove out the Mughals, they neglect that in 1679, Guwahati in the end fell to the Mughals. Just to have a good time Ahom who was as overseas as Mughals, or as Indian as Mughals, as a result of they each got here from overseas lands. How a lot would you lose if Mughals are pushed out of Indian historical past? Taj Mahal might be out, Red Fort might be out and the earliest statistical work on the earth – Ain-i-Akbari – might be out.

They are making use of fantasies like India being the mom of democracy. No historian has admitted India was the mom of democracy.

by Irfan Habib, Historian

Al Jazeera: What would be the influence on India’s training system and society because the state monopolises information manufacturing with a transparent anti-minority bias?

Habib: It is just not merely bias, however lies and falsehoods are being glorified. This Aryan enterprise is rather like the Nazis. What if you’re an Aryan? How do you get greater and nobler if you’re an Aryan? Claiming Indus Valley Civilisation as Sanskrit and calling it Saraswati is absurd. Taj Mahal is an asset, however you might be driving it out of your historical past.

Al Jazeera: Do you assume the BJP is mirroring the Thirties’ Nazi Germany when it comes to propaganda and revision of historical past?

Habib: Well, truly MS Golwalkar [RSS leader] praised the Nazis. Certainly, the RSS founders have been tremendously influenced. In the Seventies, Golwalkar praised Hitler’s therapy of the Jews no matter they could now say about Israel.

Al Jazeera: The Hindu proper wing says there was a mass conversion of Hindus beneath the Mughals and different Muslim rulers. Muslim rulers are additionally accused of destroying temples. They name it a darkish interval of historical past. How do you reply to that?

Habib: This is definitely fairly absurd. You see when Hajjaj ibn Yusuf despatched Mohammed Bin Qasim to Sindh [in the eighth century], he requested him to deal with the Hindus as they have been treating the Christians and the Parsis, that’s to say: be tolerant. Mohammed Bin Qasim didn’t destroy any temple. In reality, the Multan temple was destroyed by the heretics. So they current a completely fallacious image.

Now I can maybe say that Hajjaj’s coverage was not pushed by any nice non secular spirit of tolerance however just by sensible sense. If you invade a rustic, you don’t antagonise all of its individuals. Multani retailers have been tremendously promoted by Muslim rulers and naturally Mughals had very giant elements of Hindu officers. An strange Muslim had little likelihood to go up the ladder. The first finance minister of Aurangzeb was a Hindu, his best officer viceroy was Raja Jay Singh of the Deccan. Of course, the Mughals weren’t democrats, however neither they have been out to transform individuals by power.

The neatest thing is that should you learn European accounts of India throughout Aurangzeb’s time, they are saying that each faith was permitted – you possibly can go to a temple, you possibly can go to a mosque, you possibly can go to a church. There was no parallel in Europe like this or within the Islamic world.

If you discuss with Persian sources, then the image may be very totally different, though I might argue that the English translation, that are additionally out there, are sometimes deceptive. One can’t deny details that temples have been destroyed. Nobody defends Aurangzeb’s discriminating measures however on the identical time, it is going to be fallacious if you don’t examine India’s place with different nations the place non secular tolerance was not there. If you examine with the opposite nations [in 18th century], Aurangzeb’s India seemed tolerant.