History, Propaganda and the Khilafat Movement
In one of his articles, Tomas Pueyo wrote that: “We think we’re taught History. But we’re really taught Propaganda.” That’s one of those statements whose truth value everyone agrees with. And yet, everyone disagrees on when it is History and when it is Propaganda. (Hint: When one’s own side writes the books, people call it History; when the other side writes it, it’s Propaganda). Propaganda comes in many forms. Outright lying is one extreme of how history is written. Another way is to withhold inconvenient facts. Or to present one’s assessment of the facts as history. Or to present historical events as a story leading upto something – as if history has a direction or purpose. And then there’s what Calvin said: All of which is why Pueyo says: “For every truth you hold about the past, somebody else has the opposite take.” When I was at school, they taught about the Khilafat movement during India’s freedom struggle. It never made any sense why som...