Attempts being made to distort history: Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged attempts were being made to “distort” the country’s history to serve the vested interests of a political party.

In a veiled reference to the BJP and the RSS, she said if a particular political party tried to rewrite history to serve its purpose, then the future generation would be deprived of the truth.

“History is documentation of truth, recorded truth. You cannot distort the truth. If you distort history, then you are distorting the truth. It is a big crime to distort history,” Ms Banerjee said at the 78th session of the Indian History Congress.

“We should respect our federal structure, Constitution, our past and history,” she said.

On a sarcastic note, Ms Banerjee questioned the need for extensive researches by scholars and academicians if a specific political party tried to rewrite history to serve its political interest.

The BJP and the RSS have been accused by Opposition parties of trying to “rewrite and distort” history of India in to put forward their agenda of Hindutva.

A section of Sangh Pariwar and Hindutva groups had earlier alleged that a distorted version of history is being taught in India by “Left and liberal historians” who since Independence have "monopolised the intellectual space” in the country.

Ms Banerjee termed attempts to allegedly portray Nathuram Godse as a patriot a “calculated motive” to thrust on the people the ideals of the political party.

The Trinamul Congress chief said she felt ashamed to witness lynchings in the country in the name of caste, creed and religion.

"If you start rewriting history in the name of political vendetta, what will happen to the future generation? I am always in favour of historians and the truth must prevail," she said.