BENGALURU: Obliquely referring to the demolition of Babri Masjid and construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya, Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge said here on Sunday that a Buddisht ‘stupa’ could be found if one searched under an ancient temple.
Releasing a book – Karavaliya Charitreyalli Hyder Ali Mattu Tipu Sultan – authored by journalist Naveen Surinje, Kharge said, “If you go deep in search of history, you will get entangled. If you demolish any mosque you may find a temple, if you demolish a temple you will find a stupa. If a stupa is demolished, I don’t know.... my limit is 3,500 years of history,” he said.
Further analysing history, the minister said Buddhist history was preserved by Denanapriya Ashoka 2,500 years ago, but came to light only 150 years ago. “Who buried our history? Many don’t know Kanishka, Harshavardhana, Gupta and Maurya dynasties, Kharge said.
Priyank vows to support 100 history writers
“The relics that were found and continued to surface from Bengal to Gujarat and Kashmir to Sri Lanka have been establishing the history of Ashoka the Great. Who hid that history? The genuine history was written in Pali and Prakrit not Sanskrit,” Priyank Kharge said.
Priyank said he has launched a project to nurture around 100 history writers from the new generation. “Tipu Sultan fought against the British, but the RSS did not even raise its voice against them. Twisting history as per one’s wishes has become a fashion.
This is no longer a hobby, but a business worth thousands of crores of rupees,” he said, alleging that the Sangh Parivar, RSS and BJP are producing propaganda films to help their designs.
“Those who graduated from WhatsApp university are making films. Gujarat Files, Kashmir Files, Kerala Story, Chava and many other flicks have hit the screens. If common people watch these films and they make hundreds of crores, there is no problem.
But, if a a history teacher says Dhurandar opened her eyes, it is really worrying. One teacher influences a hundred children, and those hundred can influence many more, and this could spoil the health of society,” he commented.