Prof Yellapragada Sudershan Rao took up his post as chair of the Indian Council of Historical Research last month. When last in power, between 19, the BJP prompted controversy with its criticism of prominent historians and efforts to excise what ministers claimed was a Marxist or western vision from textbooks. The Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), led by Narendra Modi, won a landslide victory in May, ending a decade of rule by the centre-left Congress party. The appointment of a little-known academic to the head of a national research body has raised concerns that the new Hindu nationalist government in India may try to promote an ideological version of the country's past. Roy's comments come amid a series of rows over the study and representation of Indian history. The British government recently announced that a statue of Gandhi would be placed in Parliament Square. Mukherjee said Gandhi and Ambedkar "represented different understandings of how to solve problems of caste oppression in India, but each was equally sincere". Roy recently wrote a new introduction to Ambedkar's undelivered 1936 speech, The Annihilation of Caste, in which she called Gandhi "the saint of the status quo".
Gandhi's stance is sometimes contrasted by commentators with that of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, a Dalit who grew up in poverty but went on to become a prominent independence leader and India's first law minister, with responsibility for much of the country's constitution. Roy's comments are part of a long-running historical argument over Gandhi's views on caste. His effort was in keeping with his philosophy of nonviolence and bringing social transformation without creating hatred," Mukherjee said. He was a reformer not a revivalist within the Hindu religion. "Gandhi devoted much of his life to fighting caste prejudice. Prof Mridula Mukherjee, an expert in modern Indian history at Jawaharlal University in Delhi, said Roy's criticism was misplaced.
"Being outspoken is one thing but being so blase about your ignorance is quite another," said Tushar Gandhi, great-grandson of the world-renowned thinker and activist. The author's comments provoked immediate outrage from descendants and some scepticism from historians. Mahatma Gandhi, whose views on caste have been a long-running argument among historians.
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