A few days back we witnessed the awful scene of Sanjay Leela Bhansali being slapped for filming a script on Rani Padmavati. The Sufi poet who wrote that epic poem had himself underlined that it was not a real story. But who listens. The Rajput Karni Sena declared that the film was an insult to the Rajputs and their valour.

There is an even more shocking attempt at distortion of history. According to these fanatics Maharana Pratap was not defeated at the battle of Haldighati by the troops of Akbar. The fanatics are backed by even some ministers in Rajasthan who are planning to rewrite history books for teaching students on these lines.

They assert that Haldighati was a battle that Maharana Pratap fought against a foreign invader. History records it as an indecisive battle. Certainly Maharana Pratap was not able to defeat Akbar in that battle. The fanatics claiming that Maharana Pratap was not defeated, do not explain why is it that after Haldighati, Maharana Pratap had abandoned his fort and sought shelter elsewhere. Why did he do so if he had not expected an attack from Akbar’s forces? Was he not seriously injured?

It is also not explained, why Rajput king Mansingh of Amber led the troops of Akbar against Maharana Pratap at Haldighati? Was Mansingh a Quisling? Why is he is still venerated despite the fact that his grandfather Raja Virmal gave his daughter Jodha Bai in marriage to Akbar? Mansingh’s own daughter Manorama Bai was married to Crown Prince Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Emperor Shah Jahan and brother of Aurangzeb.

Now New Delhi Municipal Corporation has renamed Dalhousie Road as Dara Shikoh Road! Everything is getting topsy turvy these days. The renaming spree is on.

Not only in recent history but the fanatics are in a mess over the Indus valley civilisation also. They consider that Vedic people resided there but history says otherwise. No one so far has been able to decipher the inscriptions on the seals that have been found in Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro and elsewhere. Were the markings on these seals old Sanskrit? If so, why till date nobody can read them? The Indus Valley civilization is considered to be over 8000 years old, that is, a long time before the so-called Aryan invasion.

There is another claim that the original inhabitants of Indus Valley were Dravidians. This view has recently been buttressed due to similar relics of that civilisation found in some parts of Southern India, especially Tamilnadu. The Tamil nationalists are now also claiming that Jallikattu was a sport that originated from there. One of the Indus Valley civilisation seals shows a man and a bull. There are some similar depictions in rock carvings there as well. The Tamil claim on Indus Valley civilisation thus cannot be ignored.

So how can these demands be met? Can these be settled by rewriting history? One may then even ask – did the British actually defeat Siraj-ud-daulah in the battle of Plessey or was it only a sabotage by his own men that forced him to lose his throne? Didn’t the British East India Company win a decisive victory there and established British rule?

What will be the historical determinants if these baseless claims are sustained? Will rewriting of history undo reality? Those who wish to rewrite history without the backing of adequate facts and research should be aware of the pitfalls and not misguide the people of this country to subserve their own interests. Many peoples, many cultures, many civilizations have been at the root of what we are today. We are “India of today”, an amalgam of many, and that is what makes us Indian.

India did not exist as one country, and there was nothing tangible to call ourselves, “We, the people of India” before 1947. Even when British rule controlled the whole of India, there were many feudatory States and British made various administrative units. We were not one entity per se. Today, we are a Republic but in a combination of many ethnicities and cultures. This is what makes us unique. There are conflicts and contradictions among us but we are still one people, Indians, and when need be, we unite as one entity.

The most important contribution to our unity has been our freedom struggle against the British rule. That welded us into one. The British tried to “divide” us “and rule”, creating even separate electorates for Hindus and Muslims, but it did not work. Even today attempts are being to divide us invoking all sorts of myths and folklores, and through attempts to rewrite or miswrite history with no supporting evidence.

Even the battles between kings belonging to Hindu and Muslim faiths for expansion of their kingdoms or to resist invasions are attempted to be portrayed as battles between Hindus and Muslims. Is it not worth knowing that no king of India laid down his life in fighting the British forces except Tipu Sultan of Mysore who was a Muslim?

In this ancient land of ours there have been many upheavals. But even in that churning what has survived and progressed is our history that is just not a catalogue of kings and their doings but of people’s transformation.