‘The British made false history under their policy of divide and rule’
‘The British made false history under their policy of divide and rule’
Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi blamed the British for creating a “wrong history” as part of its divide and rule policy, reasoning on Sunday that concept of Aryans And the Dravidians were primarily a geographical, not a racial, division. But the British racialized it according to their need.
Speaking at a function to mark the 216th year of the Vellore Sepoy Mutiny, also known as Sepoy Mutiny, he said that according to ancient literature and historical records, the northern part of the Vindhya Range was the site of Aryan settlements and those areas. were known for. The south, which covered parts of modern Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Odisha, was known as the Dravidian land. “It is a false history, created by the British as part of their divide and rule policy, that the Dravidians are a race. This is clear from the fact that when they [the British] Left, India had 600 independent countries apart from Pakistan in 1947,” he said.
The Governor said that after independence, the then Union Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel brought all the provinces and states under one union. However, since then there have been many divisions on the basis of caste and tribe, resulting in unbalanced development. Even in progressive states like Tamil Nadu, there was variation in development among different communities. He said that such a problem can be solved only by the concept of one nation. “Since independence, age-old problems like poverty, illiteracy and power supply still persist. Because we don’t completely solve these problems. In other words, we have to act like a family,” he said.
Governor stressed on the need to cherish the sacrifices made by the martyrs and freedom fighters. He was forgotten for years after independence. However, steps were taken to remember his contribution to the freedom struggle. He said, “A nation cannot be great if it is ungrateful for the sacrifices made by its freedom fighters for the country’s freedom.”
Tracing the origins of the Sepoy Mutiny, the Governor said that the history written by the British stated that the reason for the rebellion was a dress code which was opposed by the native soldiers. This interpretation was incorrect as any discrepancy regarding dress code could be resolved by the military through its own built-in mechanism. Proper research had to be done to find out the real reasons. “What happened in Vellore was not just an insurgency, but the country’s first freedom struggle in which soldiers from different places took part,” he said.
Earlier, the Governor laid a wreath at the Vellore Sepoy Mutiny Memorial at Makkan Junction near the fort. Mayor Sujatha Ananthkumar, Collector P. Kumarvel Pandian, S Rajesh Kannan, SP (Vellore), NCC cadets, NSS volunteers, college students, residents, families of INA veterans and freedom fighters and retired soldiers participated in the ceremony.