Customer Reviews

Eminent Historians: Their Technology, Their Line, Their Fraud

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Arun Shourie is once more at his cutting best in this exposé of the devious ways in which the cabal of "Eminent Historians" manipulate, massage, and murder History with all their undertones of Marxist ideology, masquerading a shabby brand of secularism.

Here you will find the excesses of such "eminences" as Romila Thappar, Satish Chandra, Irfaan Habib, R S Sharma, and an assortment of fellow travellers. A veritable brood who have cornered the writing of History as seen though their own warped, pinko tinted spectacles. And for this "service" to scholarship, the brood has lost no opportunity to monopolise state largess, siphon off grants for various projects without delivering. The few times this pretend-busy brood has deigned to deliver, then the output of any "research" has been so immersed in the ideology prescribed by some foreign, totalitarian, failed Party and State, that it defies the description of scholarship.

No wonder that none of the eminences or their intellectual offspring have had the guts to respond to the issues that Shourie raises here. They deploy the same strategy as they do in their historical "researches" - first ignore it, then decry it as petty, from an amateur, hurl personal insults, falsify facts.

Remember: these "eminences" have made a career out of claiming that Aurangzeb was a just ruler, that the Caste System was the sole reason for India's problems, that Islam brought equality, that the systematic destruction of countless temples was an economic exercise and had absolutely nothing to do with the hatred and contempt that the Islamic invaders had for Indian culture and traditions.

For "eminences" who deny the history as written by the chroniclers themselves of the invasions, of pillage, of destruction, of the rape that they carried out in honour of their iconoclasm, it is easy to falsify even recent history like the events around partition; like the Ramjanambhoomi dispute; like Secularism and minority rights.

Shourie's book is an excellent antidote to the .... from these eminences that still passes off as "academic research". It is shameful that the likes of Thappar still warrant respect in the academic community. But, the good news is that their time is nigh! Shourie and others like him are making sure of it.

This book is not for the faint of heart and makes for troubling reading.

It deconstructs, using copious research, cross-referencing and rigorous analysis how India's history has been falsified and "the world has been pulled over our eyes".

Shourie pulls no punches. In one chapter -- he demonstrates, through extensive referencing how our 'eminent' (i.e. fraudulent) historians make assertions -- usually false ones -- and then cross reference each others (false) assertions, just like in an academic study.
He notes that several stories we've been taught are based upon such serial pre-supposition-conclusion diads. By going back to original documents (like the akbarnama) he shows how the conclusions are blatantly false, but are seen as 'true' simply due to repeated assertion!.
Shourie traces these leaps and jumps across authors, across books, again and again.
Its like watching someone take apart a Madoff scheme -- and show that even the share receipts are false!

He does end optimistically, noting that all it takes for this edifice of lies to crumble is for people to think. That is a tall ask, though.

The book also gives heart: for unlike what we've been taught in schools, Shourie shows that plenty that is good, rich and sacred HAS been native to india.

This book is more than a book - it is a milstone in the history of history-writing in India. It contributed heavily to the on-going debate about distortions in Indian history, and put several academecians on the defensive.
The book explains how a group of academic historians, of Marxist persuasion, has been tweaking Indian history and also lining its own pockets in the process. Shri Shourie backs his arguments with definite facts and impeccable logic. The narrative becomes livelier because he also brings in short side-stories describing the debates that went on during his research. The book also describes some of the distortions of history and how they have affected Indian psyche and contributed to the current political fury, sometimes described as Hindutva 'fundamentalism'.
Unfortunately, the book suffers from repetitions. An earlier argument or sequence is sometimes repeated again later on, sometimes even thrice. This is perhaps integral to the author's style of writing -- he wants to make sure that you are finally convinced, with no room for squirming out. Fortunately, the book is not as long as some of his other efforts.
Curiously, the author, a highly respected and famous investigative journalist, believed in Communism till 1980's and was proudly paraded at Marxist gatherings. Then his political thinking changed and he started writing against Marxists and other divisive groups, who generally are critical of most things Indian. In the '90s he formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and went on to become a Central Cabinet Minister. He has continued writing, and is currently considered to be a formidable opponent of Marxism.
I discovered this book because it had been brutally criticised in the Outlook magazine, and that made me curious. It took me nearly two weeks to read (it makes for fairly heavy reading), but the labor was well-worth the insights I obtained. Since then I had to buy an extra copy because people kept borrowing my copy, and I could not find it when I needed it myself!
Overall, an excellent introduction to the current Indian debate on history, and a good buy for those interested in Indian history.

This book is more than a book - it is a milestone in the history of history-writing in India. It contributed heavily to the on-going debate about distortions in Indian history, and put several academecians on the defensive.

The book explains how a group of academic historians, of Marxist persuasion, has been tweaking Indian history and also lining its own pockets in the process. Shri Shourie backs his arguments with definite facts and impeccable logic. The narrative becomes livelier because he also brings in short side-stories describing the debates that went on during his research. The book also describes some of the distortions of history and how they have affected Indian psyche and contributed to the current political fury, sometimes described as Hindutva 'fundamentalism'.

Unfortunately, the book suffers from repetitions. An earlier argument or sequence is sometimes repeated again later on, sometimes even thrice. This is perhaps integral to the author's style of writing -- he wants to make sure that you are finally convinced, with no room for squirming out. Fortunately, the book is not as long as some of his other efforts. Another problem seems to be that some of the facts might just be interpretations or convenient circular references among a clutch of authors - precisely the kind of thing that Mr. Shourie sets out to criticize!

Curiously, the author, a highly respected and famous investigative journalist, believed in Communism till 1980's and was proudly paraded at Marxist gatherings. Then his political thinking changed and he started writing against Marxists and other divisive groups, who generally are critical of most things Indian. In the '90s he formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and went on to become a Central Cabinet Minister. He has continued writing, and is currently considered to be a tenacious opponent of Marxism.

I discovered this book because it had been brutally criticised in the Outlook magazine, and that made me curious. It took me nearly two weeks to read (it makes for fairly heavy reading), but the labor was well-worth the insights I obtained. Since then I had to buy an extra copy because people kept borrowing my copy, and I could not find it when I needed it myself!

Overall, a useful introduction to the current Indian debate on history, and a good buy for those interested in Indian history.