History must be free from the influence of “establishment”:Speaker Int history conference

Lahore: Speakers from various countries have stressed the need for unbiased, fair and honest historiography of South Asia to keep the record straight, resolve differences and promote harmony and said that history must be free from the influence of “establishment”.

They were addressing the inaugural session of three-day 24^th International Pakistan History Conference “History and Historiography of South Asia” organized by PU Department of History, Pakistan Historical Society and PU Department of Political Science at Al Raazi here on Monday.

PU VC Dr Mujahid Kamran, Chairman History Department Prof Dr Iqbal Chawla, Sajjada Nasheen Hazrat Khawaja Moeen-uddin Chishtee from Ajmair Sharif ,Dr Syed Liaqat   Hussain Moini, Chairperson Hamdard Foundation and President Pakistani Historical Society Ms Sadia Rashid, University of London’s Prof Dr Sarah Ansari, University of Karachi’s Pakistan Study Centre Director Dr Jaffar Ahmad, Pakistan Historical Society General Secretary Dr Ansar Zahid Khan, delegates from other countries, senior faculty members and a large number of students were present on the occasion.

Addressing the ceremony, Vice Chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamran said that the subject of history had been under the profound control of world’s financial elite for engineering consent of masses to serve their interest as history influenced behavior. He said that George Orwell, an English critic, novelist and journalist, had stated that he who controls the past controls of future and he who controls the present controls the past. He said that during World War I, the financial elite tasked several social scientists to mold public opinion in favour of war while the people were against the war.

He said that history was always taught in selective way and there was an “establishment” in the subject of history. He said 95 percent US media was controlled only 6 corporations, owned by the wealthy elite and they always distorted news and did not present certain facts which were against their agenda. He said that their media would never report that the cancer rate in Faloja, Iraq, which was heavily bombed by US forces, was much higher than Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s. He said that the researchers now had found that the financial elite had funded the Bolshevik Revolution and Hitler simultaneously. He said that no honest history of 1947 partition of subcontinent had been written that’s why there were feelings of hatred.

He said that the Muslims had turned away from the quest for knowledge for which we were facing the consequences. He requested media to highlight the importance of the issue and do programs on the subject of history.

In her keynote address, defining the elements and importance of public history, Dr Sarah Ansari said that public history was applied in practice among public through media, curriculum, internet, museums etc and was designed for mass audience and the academic history was being taught in universities.

She said that there were strong reservations on the public history as it was under the control of governments, radicals and certain establishments and was used for conscious raising to serve political interests and inform selectively. She said public history posed challenges to the governments and the people who controlled it.

She said that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s two nation theory was clear and evident, adding that history text books were creating controversies. Citing examples, she said that Pakistan’s education department revised syllabus to promote specific ideology in Zia regime and in Japan, changes were made to the curriculum for defense purposes.

While in India, she said, opposition parties changed the curriculum when they came into power. She said that authorities want to eliminate uncomfortable references from the books. She said that there was selectivity of collective memory while history was an open feel but was being used for specific purpose. She sought moral commitment of historians for neutral and unbiased history. She said that academic history and public history must be connected and a common man must be provided an opportunity to think independently.

Conference President Saadia Rashid said that although scientific methods were introduced in social sciences during the Colonial rule in the subcontinent but they also injected subjectivity. She said that Pakistan Historical Society was promoting researches on history and reviving conference culture since 2000.

Dr Liaqat Hussain Moini said that history was the subject where one was supposed to be judge. He said that one should review documents and facts objectively and than pass judgments. He said that Sofis had provided a vast literature on history but it had not been given due importance. He said that the literature could be used for harmony in the region.

Dr Iqbal Chawla said that unfortunately, in the recent past, it seemed that the subject of history had lost its appeal for the general public as compared to other subjects. He said the readers found history boring and stereotyped and above all, irrelevant to the needs of present time. He said that history was considered the mother of social sciences and today in the age of globalization, it was important for us to gain knowledge of our shared historical background. He said that main thrust of the conference was to prepare students who would be fully versed in literature, methods and interpretive debates of history.

Dr Jaffar Ahmad said our politicians must have a refresher course of history. He said that in the first three decades after the inception of Pakistan, we had the best historians but afterwards the universities were weakened and were practically turned into colleges and colleges were turned into schools because education was not given priority. He said that there were military regimes in Pakistan for more than 32 years and an autocratic government did not allow diversity in opinion.

He said that history had been distorted in Pakistan and several amendments were made to history and Pakistan Studies subjects. He said that but now the situation was improving after establishment of HEC. He stressed the need to exchange faculty and students among local and foreign universities.

Earlier, Dr Moini performed Dastar Bandi of guest speakers on stage.