In
the grand narrative of Independent India and its historiography,
Borphukan found no space. He remained a regional hero, and his victory
over the Mughals secured no space even in the footnotes of modern Indian
history.
His valour against the expansionist Mughals was exceptional and
exemplified the pride of India. This victory was antithetical to the
line of historiography that foregrounded the stories of defeats.
Therefore, it suffered from deliberate inattention because this
contested narrative disturbed the narrative of selectivism designed by
the ’eminent historians’ (to borrow the phrase from Arun Shourie).
This kind of historiography made history an ideological project, not a
space of objectivity. This exercise embodied the discontent because it
practised exclusion. The exclusivity status was given to a chosen few
who fit into their scheme of things or framework, but others whose
merits are tested by history are pushed to anonymity.
Lachit Borphukan suffered this fate and was cancelled from the
written history of Independent India. This history that remained
unquestioned and assumed the power of irreversibility has finally
experienced the test of truth. With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at
the helm of politics with a thumping majority since 2014, the scope for
revisiting history has become a reality.
It develops a scope for correcting the errors of historiography and
recognising the suppressed voices and heroes who have contributed to
this country’s unity, akhandata and civilisational prabah nityata. The
Statue Of Unity for Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, statue of Equality for
Ramanujacharya, the Statue Of Valour for Lachit Borphukan, the project
of unsung heroes of Bharat, etc., are the instances of effective
response to the intentional errors of historiography.
PM Modi’s imagination of Viksit Bharat embodies the vision of justice
that ensures the correction of errors. This exercise presents the
dividend in the form of a development of a grand narrative that projects
Bharat the way it ought to be and instils in Indians a sense of pride,
confidence, and trust in their history.
Therefore, the history of India is not a history of continuous
defeat. It inheres the stories of defeat, victory and unceasing
resistance. The civilisational continuity of Bharat establishes the
truth of defiance, intransigence, struggle and sacrifice.
The deeds of Lachit Borphukan are the instances of grit, courage and
determination that ensured the civilisational continuity of Bharat at
the teeth of annihilation and predatory forces that threatened Bharat’s
civilisational existence. Therefore, the project of the ideology-loaded
historiography that believed in imposing a film of frustration through
the convoluted narration of Bharat’s history through lies and
fraudulence finds its antithesis in the writings of Vikram Sampath,
Meenakshi Jain, Rajiv Malhotra, Anand Ranganathan and so on.
