You may see portals, notable and explicitly left in their opinions and alignment, like The Wire, Scroll, The Quint and The Print full of propaganda pieces on notable non-fiction authors and historians of the day, Vikram Sampath and Anuj Dhar. However, their purpose is very simple – trying to destroy the credibility that these young, challenging, courageous and determined authors have made for themselves. Anuj Dhar has done extensively for the case of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the great Indian freedom fighter. Vikram Sampath, another great author in making, has dominated the scene of Indian freedom struggle history and almost close the roadside rehris of many so-called historians who have been demonising the great historian, freedom fighter and brave son of India, Veer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar!

This new turmoil in the Indian literary and history corridors is not here to settle anytime soon. More and more readers are reading the accounts that were hitherto missing from the scene. The more young readers and older ones read about these superheroes of the Indian freedom struggle, the more they wonder about what they were being fed so far in the name of history and colonial and post-colonial periods, especially. The books like India’s Biggest Cover-up in 2012 and What Happened to Netaji in 2015 have brought back the debates on the contribution of so-called champions of the Indian freedom struggle. Likewise, Vikram Sampath’s book on Savarkar has re-energised the lot that was waiting for someone to bring into mainstream what was there in the subconscious of many before it was too late. Today, people don’t hesitate to discuss Savarkar and his contribution to the freedom struggle of India and his politics… even if it is not considered secular to do so.

There are many other authors who are coming with the version of history and politics in India that were so far ignored, cursed and not considered cosy enough to be appearing in the mainstream. This was, to say the least, was a great disservice, one could ever imagine, to the nation and the citizens likewise. You can dislike something but you should not suppress the version just because you dislike it. Strangely enough, the so-called champions of freedom of speech were too intolerant to suppress someone’s freedom to express something.

The beginning is here, finally. Nevertheless, it is still a long road to cover. India has forgotten many heroes of the freedom struggle and many heroes from the past. Just to ensure that people do not run away from the cage called vote bank, politicians and historians have kept much from Indian citizens in the name of protecting the harmony of India. However, unless we meet history face to face, it’d never be easy to reconcile with the same.

By Ranjit for Intellectual Reader