Controversy over "postponement" of Indian History Congress

Barely a fortnight before the 79th session of the prestigious Indian History Congress, its host, the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), announced that the event had been put off but it did not give any reasons. On December 12, an update on the university’s website stated that the session, which was to be held from December 28 to 30, had been postponed until further notice.

This sudden and random postponement threw the organisers and participants off guard. It is feared that pressure from right-wing governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra may be behind this derailment of the IHC, which has functioned like clockwork since its inception in 1935.

While, the revisionism of history, mythmaking and the running down of the centres of excellence in higher education by the right-wing government has been well documented, this “postponement” of the IHC has been viewed as a part of the systematic attack on higher education. The IHC is perceived as a stronghold of the Indian Left by supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The largest representative body of historians in India, the IHC has earned a reputation for setting standards for secular history writing and emerged as a platform for peer reviews, presentation of papers and networking for scholars. The decision to hold the congress in Pune was taken at last year’s congress held at Jadavpur University in Kolkata.

The IHC, in a statement signed by its Secretary, Prof Mahalakshmi Ramakrishnan of the Centre for Historical Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said that an anonymous letter from “IHC team” was circulated announcing that the session would not be held on the scheduled dates. “This announcement has been made without the consent of the Indian History Congress. It in effect means cancellation of the session at Pune, since IHC session cannot be postponed by the hosts and this too to unknown dates,” she said.

In an emergency meeting on December 14, the executive committee (E.C.) of the IHC decided to hold the 79th session at a different venue by end of March 2019.

Outlining how SPPU Vice Chancellor Prof N.R. Karmalkar had invited the IHC to hold its 79th session at the university, Prof Mahalakshmi said the V.C. appointed Prof Radhika Seshan of the university as local secretary and the IHC offered her all cooperation. Prof Seshan called on members of the IHC to enrol themselves as delegates on payment of Rs.2,000 each, “which is the highest rate until now required by a host university,” according to Prof Mahalakshmi.

Referring to a statement attributed to the V.C. in a section of the press to the effect that the university had conveyed its decision to postpone the session three months ago, that is in early September, Prof Mahalakshmi said it was baseless and added that no such decision was conveyed to the IHC in writing or orally until the second week of December. “The university called for and continued to receive delegate fees of Rs.2,000 till the first week of December 2018. Further, the local secretary’s circular was itself sent out three months ago to the IHC members; hence it is strange that this should have been done if a decision to not hold the Congress had already been taken at that time,” she said.

The IHC has, in the past, clarified that it has no affiliation with any political party or group whatsoever and is only committed to the objective study of history, not to any particular ideology or political outlook. It said in its statement: “It has always defended freedom of speech, having been the only academic or professional organisation to pass a resolution at its 1975 session criticising arrests of academics and others during the Emergency. Its resolutions generally confine themselves to promotion of education in history, protection of monuments, access to archives, etc.”