Punjab Notes: History versus nationalism: manufacturing the heroes!

Byline: Mushtaq Soofi

It's not that societies have histories that are devoid of heroes. Some individuals may be exceptional but what makes them exceptional invariably depends on exceptional circumstances.

History would have treated Raja Ambhi and Mahasamrath Porus the same way had there been no Greek invasion of Punjab in the 4th century BC. The nature of response to invading Greek army on the parts of two kings determined their place in history. The former capitulated and genuflected before the invaders to his eternal shame but the latter fought bravely and demoralised the enemies to the extent that they lost their nerve to cross the river Bias. What made Porus immortal was not just his prowess in warfare but also his sense of honour; he forced Alexander with his moral courage even after his defeat -which modern historians contest-to treat him as his equal.

In the normal course of life certain historical personages are part of collective memory but their presence is subdued. It's only when a society is confronted or subjugated by hostile forces that it digs out and flaunts its half-forgotten heroic figures to proclaim its intent to deal with the situation heroically in the face of adversity. Such a phenomenon came to surface in the era of colonialism in the sub-continent whose reverberations are still felt across the region.

Diverse religious communities fired by a sense of their self-importance opened their communal closets and dusted off their heroes as symbols of their exclusive identities. Such newly resurrected personages were juxtaposed against the images of colonial forces which signified modernity and contemporaneity with its ineradicable effect. The act at some level became a rallying point and galvanised the society but it proved divisive at the same time highlighting communal fault lines. Consequently revivalism emerged as a dominant faith-laced political trend. Hindus harked back to how things were in the past. They came to uphold that 'Varnashsram Dharma [ancient caste based social set-up]' was sacred, Rama RAJ [the rule of Lord Rama] was an epitome of justice and equity, and all those who resisted and fought Muslim invaders from Middle East and Central Asia were great heroes.

Muslims, the second largest community in India, dreamed of restoring the splendour of Caliphate and identified with invading Muslim kings and warriors with whom they shared little in terms of ethnicity, culture and language. In India's struggle against...