'If we don't confront the past, we won't have peace': Historian Sanjeev Sanyal on 'weaponisation of history'

Economist and historian Sanjeev Sanyal at Rising Bharat Summit.

Economist and historian Sanjeev Sanyal on Wednesday shed light on the massacres carried out by Aurangzeb against Hindus and said that "We won't have peace of any kind, social, political or otherwise, if we don't confront the past".

During the session with the historians at the Rising Bharat Summit, News18 anchor Rahul Shivshankar said that organisations such as the RSS have reacted with discomfort at the talk around Aurangzeb and the way it was exploded on TV screens and into the public sphere. Many people are saying that "Aurangzeb now functions less as a historical figure and more as a cultural flashpoint". He then asked, "Are we weaponising the past to settle the present?"

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Economist and historian Sanjeev Sanyal said, "Let's be clear about what the primary facts are. The primary facts are that Aurangzeb did carry out large number of massacres of Hindus because of religious bigotry. It was not some political battle. The pulling down of large number of Hindu temple by him is a historical fact. "

"Now what Aurangzeb did in the past does to the politics of today, that is for politicians to decide. But if we are not comfortable with the truth, this will always fester. We have to be comfortable with what actually happened," he added at the CNN-News18 Rising Bharat Summit in New Delhi.

"We won't have peace of any kind, social, political or otherwise, if we don't confront the past. Because the evidence of it is everywhere," he added.

"Hinduism itself is not monolithic. It is about diversity. There are many views of history, I do not have any issues with different perspectives of history. The problem is when there is no agreement on basic facts. But I understand that the Bengali view of history may not be the same as the Kannada view of history," Sanyal said at the summit.

Further discussing the topic at Rising Bharat Summit, historian Vikram Sampath said, "The weaponization of history by politicians, rather than leaving on the people from the academic front to have different opinions. That is what muddies the water and the fact that we have not told the truth as it is. The word itihaasa (history) itself in Sanskrit translates to 'it thus happened'. So if it has happened like that, you can't sugarcoat it just because it is politically inconvenient for you today or you have vote bank politics to pander to."

"We should not whitewash history to suit our present needs with the caveat that we are not holding today's communities responsible for the barbarians of the past neither should they glorify them. We cannot achieve rising Bharat without solving the wounds of the past," he added.

Sanjeev Sanyal also called for a “truth and reconciliation” process to deal with historical injustices in India. He said that while the country must look forward, it should not shy away from acknowledging and correcting distortions in historical narratives.