India@2047: Overcoming Atrocity Literature, Reclaiming Past Glory, and Moving Ahead to a Great Future | Re-Reading Ernest Renan

🖋️Musings from Los Angeles by Dilip Mandal

No civilization can reclaim its past glory or stride confidently into the future if it remains, or is forced to remain, trapped in real or/and imaginary guilt.

This is a deliberate strategy or plan often employed by opponents who aim to weaken and bog down a society or a Nation. 

Atrocity literature is one such trap.

Every civilization has its bright and dark shades. No one denies that birth based caste hierarchy is harmful, and it is true that the Indian subcontinent has grappled with this issue. 

But is that the sole lens through which we should view our history and identity? Should it define our collective narrative and memory?

The Indian Constitution was created to address historical injustices and heal societal wounds. 

Provisions such as reservations and civil rights laws are remedies thoughtfully envisioned by the framers of our Constitution. These measures were based on broad consensus and aimed at ensuring social justice.

We have moved beyond those times. Just as Europe and America are gradually leaving behind the dark memories of slavery, India too is working to overcome its historical inequities. 

There are no longer slave markets in Europe or America, nor in the Muslim world, selling human beings and young girls as commodities. 

Yet, no one constantly lectures Western civilizations about slavery, nor does anyone incessantly question the Muslim world about its history of slave markets and other horrors and atrocities against women. 

They continue practices such as the burqa, religion-approved child marriage, and polygamy with up to four wives.

We are always better and more humane than them. We never defend and deny our past mistakes. 

So why should India perpetually bear the burden of some of the problematic things of its past?

Take Manusmriti for example—it was never a ruling ideology in India. It was merely an idea a wish list of a person, not a governing principle.

It is time to shift our focus to the achievements and glories of our civilization and move forward. 

Our collective memory should celebrate the grandeur of Ashoka and Shivaji Maharaj, the intellectual heights of Nalanda and Vikramshila, the architectural wonders of the Chola and Satavahana empires, and the timeless beauty of our great temples, viharas. Add more to this list—it is vast and inspiring.

And to my fellow OBCs: untouchability is not a part of your historical experience. Your forefathers never faced it. Do not fall into the trap of absurd narratives. Remember, you were once the rulers and warriors of this land. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar himself established this truth in his seminal work, Who Were the Shudras?

Dear fellow Indians, let us reclaim our legacy with pride and a forward-looking vision, unshackled by guilt and empowered by the promise of our Constitution.

Let’s get rid of atrocity literature collectively. 

Happy Maha Kumbha Mela.