Mamata Bannerji and others decided that Marx and Engels can not constitute the staple of school history syllabus in West Bengal any more.
Mamata ji's spokesperson, Derek O'Brien said History did not begin with the Bolsheviks and end with the Basus and Bhattacharjees. He was giving an official explanation about the 'urgent' decision to change school level history syllabus.
As quotations go, Derek's is an excellent one. The introduction of a range of ideas and movements from around the world is certainly an appreciable move,too. But the exclusion of a Marxist History is not exactly a supportable approach, being not so dissimilar to the decades of exclusionism practised by the Left governments. After all, Marx did not ask the Leftist governments to propagate only one monolithic ideology! Nor does Mamata di's rewriting of History in school text-books guarantee a turning back of the Bengali clock! Generations of students influenced by Marxism walked down Shakespeare Sarani! And precisely those 'influenced' voters toppled the Left government, to bring the TMC to power.
What goal is served by excluding Marxism, and English Newspapers from the public domain, didi? The same , perhaps, as keeping Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasreen out in exile? And the impending exit of some American Historian who lived 41 years in Pondicherry to turn out a book on the lives of Sri Aurobindo?
Didi and Derek should learn that exclusionism does not lead to efficient governance. Mamata already knows how exclusionism boomerangs...consequent to Dinesh Trivedi's Railway Budget and the National level fiasco, India was on the edge of a snap general election; the Contortionist Acts of politicians across the board gave plenty of signals to the world that 'ALL IZZ not WELL' with this Biggest Democracy of the world. The 'tamasha' of Antony and truck O'Tatra , Generals Singh versus Singh, and finally the Suspicions of the CoupExpress have given scope for mirth over dearth.
Lessons can be learnt from all this. But not, one daresay, solely from Pashchim Banga's History Books due in June 2012.
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