Kritiker haben Indiens regierende Bharatiya Janata Party vorgeworfen, die Geschichte des Landes neu zu schreiben, indem sie historische Markierungen renovieren, um ihre hindu-nationalistische Ideologie zu bestätigen.
Recent renovations carried out at Jallianwalla Bagh memorial in India's Punjab state. The alleged removal of traces of a 1919 massacre has also irked prominent historians.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Gujarat government has started renovations at two historic structures associated with Mahatma Gandhi in Ahmedabad.
The €2.1 billion ($2.5 billion) makeover will require demolishing several buildings and redesigning spaces such as Parliament House, Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Presidential Palace. The Central Vista in the heart of the capital, New Delhi, is being renovated.
Critics say the real intent of the Central Vista is laid bare in the bid document. Since 1947, various governments have done away with numerous symbols of British colonial rule. But historians say that what is being witnessed is both an attempt to hide facets of the popular historical memory and a result of nationalism.
Historian Narayani Gupta says BJP's version of the past is being used to legitimize Hindu majoritarianism. She points out that the BJP's electoral resurgence has brought an alternative nationalism to the fore. Gupta says the BJP has changed textbooks and got rid of British names and statues.
The BJP is trying to erase India's Mughal legacy from the landscape and from history books, say observers. The Mughals had a more than 300-year presence on the subcontinent and exerted a significant influence on Indian art, architecture, language and cuisine.
Recent renaming of cities such as Allahabad to Prayagraj and Gurgaon to Gurugram is part of a bigger project to see the spread of the BJP's political footprint.
In recent years, federal and provincial BJP governments have launched a drive to rename several towns in an attempt to resurrect India's Hindu past. Media historian Rakesh Batabyal says rewriting Indian history is crucial to justifying the ideology of Hindu nationalists. The biggest impediment to the ideology was the national freedom movement, he says.
Der Schritt, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, einen frühen Führer der RSS, zu erheben, ist ein Versuch, einen der Begründer ihres politischen Glaubens in das öffentliche Gedächtnis des indischen Unabhängigkeitskampfes einzufügen.
Quelle: FreiesNachrichtenblatt.com
