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An example of meddling with history, at least in South India, is how Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali are portrayed. There are many areas in Karnataka that have suffe

An example of meddling with history, at least in South India, is how Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali are portrayed. There are many areas in Karnataka that have suffered from their plunder, and all we see in text books is that they are heroes, because they fought against British. Now, if you are a muslim in S.India, you'll not speak out against this portrayal. If you are a Kodava (people from Coorg), you'll be seething red with any such portrayals of Tipu and Hyder Ali, because they plundered, massacred, raped and forcefully convereted hundreds of thousands after every attack. Now if Osama Bin Laden was a figure from pre 18th century India, I bet he'd be revered as a hero in Indian school textbooks and movie industry.

kamaal 9y ago
You can look at any area in India and you would see these stories, because that is how Kings work. How do you think Ashoka built his empire? Techniques weren't any different than what Aurangzeb used. Or what Romans used, or what the Persians used or what the Greeks used. Wars work that way. Also there is a reason why 'foreign culture' gets acceptance in any culture. If you deny education, commerce and other social opportunities to your masses for millenniums they are bound to be attracted to other cultures even if they are foreign. If anything they get a divorce for their unbearable current affairs. A foreign ruler comes across way more acceptable than the existing domestic ruler who doesn't let you study, doesn't let you participate in war, doesn't let you trade and large looks down on your as some sort of slave labor whose sole purpose is tax revenue. Easiest escape from these scenarios is to change your identity- Change language, religion, culture, residence etc. If this is what troubles you, then the solution to this is not rewriting history, but pushing for equality and upliftment of those who have been suffering for thousands of years. And that of course involves dismantling social structures and privileges that have existed for all thousands of years. Otherwise all this is just an exercise in futility. You can rewrite what you like, and if the conditions on the ground don't improve, people will toss out whatever their current identity is and just move on to whatever works for them. And don't blame them, its not exactly wrong to want to live a good life.

kamaal 9y ago

You can look at any area in India and you would see these stories, because that is how Kings work. How do you think Ashoka built his empire? Techniques weren't any different than what Aurangzeb used. Or what Romans used, or what the Persians used or what the Greeks used. Wars work that way. Also there is a reason why 'foreign culture' gets acceptance in any culture. If you deny education, commerce and other social opportunities to your masses for millenniums they are bound to be attracted to other cultures even if they are foreign. If anything they get a divorce for their unbearable current affairs. A foreign ruler comes across way more acceptable than the existing domestic ruler who doesn't let you study, doesn't let you participate in war, doesn't let you trade and large looks down on your as some sort of slave labor whose sole purpose is tax revenue. Easiest escape from these scenarios is to change your identity- Change language, religion, culture, residence etc. If this is what troubles you, then the solution to this is not rewriting history, but pushing for equality and upliftment of those who have been suffering for thousands of years. And that of course involves dismantling social structures and privileges that have existed for all thousands of years. Otherwise all this is just an exercise in futility. You can rewrite what you like, and if the conditions on the ground don't improve, people will toss out whatever their current identity is and just move on to whatever works for them. And don't blame them, its not exactly wrong to want to live a good life.