The BJP’s insistence that history be put more emphasis on Hindu kings who resisted the Muslim invasion, and not on the invaders themselves, got a thumbs up from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose JD(U) led the saffron party. The largest coalition partner of Kumar was asked about the debate, especially in academic circles, which started with Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent statement on the release of a book on history written by a medical professional.
How can you change history? Is it possible to do so, Kumar quipped with an exclamation mark in response to a question asked on the sidelines of his weekly public relations program here on Monday. Although the septuagenarian brushed off the issue with his raucous reply, the message was loud and clear.
History, incidentally, has often been the stick that the BJP and the JD(U) have used to thrash each other. Last year, a BJP MLA Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul, who is seen as a Hindutva fanatic, suggested that Bakhtiyarpur, a sleepy town on the outskirts of the state capital, where the chief minister was born, be renamed as JD-S. be named. u) leader.
Kumar summarily dismissed it, terming it as “nonsense”. Bakhtiyarpur is said to have been named after the 12th-century Afghan general Bakhtiyar Khilji, who plundered Bihar and Bengal and whose infamous exploits include sabotaging the center of higher learning at Nalanda, where far and wide Buddhists used to come for their studies. When Upendra Kushwaha, the party’s parliamentary board chief, launched a relentless campaign against the alleged defamation of Emperor Ashoka, the JD(U), seemed intent on giving it back to its overbearing coalition ally.
The great king of Magadha was Chandragupta Maurya’s grandson, who was born in a poor family of shepherds and founded the Maurya dynasty, which the BJP also wants to remind with great nationalist pride. However, due to the humble origins of Chandragupta Maurya, the king and his descendants have come to be seen as cultural icons for the OBCs who dominated politics in the state.
Uttar Pradesh playwright Daya Prakash Sinha, who was selected for the Sahitya Akademi award this year, courted a controversy by drawing a parallel between Ashoka and the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who has been maligned by the BJP and a fanatic like him. is done. Sinha had argued that both rulers used piousness as a cloak for their unbridled ambition, although surprisingly, the astute approach found no takers in the political world.
Kushwaha launched a scathing campaign accusing Sinha of having links with the BJP and demanding withdrawal of the literary honor given to him. The BJP initially tried to buy time, but later lost courage and its state unit chief Sanjay Jaiswal filed a police complaint alleging Sinha was falsely associated with the party and then accusing Ashok of the pride of Bihar. It was maligned. ,
Since then, it seems the controversy has been given a quiet funeral. But the chief minister’s stand shows that his alliance with the BJP may be entering its fourth decade, but the ideological fault lines are as clear as ever.
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