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Ideologues in India show the harm of threats to academic freedom

Historians and history itself are the targets of ideologues who want to rewrite, even erase parts of the past and prevent some of it being taught. They are targeting historians. Academic freedom is under threat. It is another sign of the dystopic times we live in.

Beverley Gage, a historian leading a prestigious program at Yale university called "Grand Strategy," resigned citing donor pressure. The program draws lessons from ancient history to tackle modern issues. Turns out the program, funded by two super rich right-wing donors to the tune of millions of dollars, has strings attached.

These donors did not like an op-ed written by an instructor in the program calling Trump a demagogue. They wanted a particular spin on the history that was being taught and wanted, over the history professor's objection, to stuff the advisory board for the program with people of their choice. That Yale would allow donors to influence academic freedom is a cardinal sin.

Their heavy-handed pressure falls in the same space as objections to the teaching of "Critical Race Theory" (CRT.) Anti-CRT groups do not want uncomfortable parts of history like the Tulsa massacre and Juneteenth, and the brazen structural racism in the recent past to be taught. They are apprehensive that this may change outlooks and attitudes and have an influence on public policy initiatives to change ongoing strands of racism.

A similar attempt at revising history is going on in India with vengeance. Textbooks have been rewritten, the outcomes of battles changed, and a Hindu king who lost to a Muslim king is shown as a victor. In new history books, Muslims are either not mentioned at all or depicted as uncivilized, brutal invaders.

These measures propagate an ideology, called Hindutva, that purports India was an exclusively Hindu land. Hindutva ideology is the diametrically opposite of mainstream Hinduism, which is known for truth, justice, right conduct (Dharma), inclusiveness and nonviolence.

The success of Hindutva groups in India has emboldened their U.S. clones to target scholars who teach Indian history in the U.S. One historian is Audre Truschcke, who teaches Mughal history (16th to 18th century) at Rutgers.

Her work that shows India was a multicultural, multireligious society, is anathema to the Hindutva promoters. They particularly dislike that she shows that one of the Mughal emperors, Aurangzeb, was not the bigoted murderous villain he is made out to be. Turns out he was a much more nuanced figure who made justice the main plank of his rule. He destroyed a few temples due to political reasons but also supported many others.

Truschke and her family have been the target of vicious threats and petitions to fire her. She needs security when she speaks at public events.

Another historian targeted is Rohit Chopra, a professor at Santa Clara and the author of "The Virtual Hindu Rashtra" who teaches that a better term for the historical land that is now called India is South Asia. Hindutva groups have no use for this term either. They forget that nation states are a new creation.

In the past there were empires, kingdoms and geographically defined regions. There was no India or Pakistan or Bangladesh or United States of America.

Anti-CRT groups claim there is no racism in the U.S., the Black Lives Movement is a farce and we should stop pandering to the left-wing liberals. The Hindutva campaign is more virulent and anti-intellectual than the anti CRT. Hindutva groups believe that India should be for Hindus only. Anyone else who lives in India would be a second-class citizen or have no rights to citizenship.

Not only are they trying to erase Muslims from history books they are trying them to erase them physically. The recent bulldozing of the homes of more than 1,000 Muslim families in the Northeastern state of Assam, India, is just one example.

Hindutva groups are also against conversion of a Hindu to any other faith. Christians are blamed for converting Hindus by unfair tactics. Recently a Christian Pastor, who was conducting a service, was chased into a local police station, accused of the crime of converting Hindus to Christianity and beaten up.

The reason why there is opposition to "Grand Strategy," CRT and India's multireligious inclusive past is not that these groups have any interest in history. They just do not like historical facts getting in the way of their current aims of promoting a particular ideology.

Groups in the U.S. like the African American Policy Forum, Hindus for Human Rights and Indian American Muslim Council have taken up the challenge of countering these groups. They are hoping that shining a bright light on the anti-intellectual and racist ideologies may neutralize them.

Academic freedom is sacrosanct. We must fight to preserve it.

• Javeed Akhter is a physician and freelance writer from Oak Brook.

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