How fulsome they have been in commending each other -- the patrons and
subalterns!
First the significance of Arif Qandhari's Tarikh-i-Akbari : it confirms what
we know from Abul Fazl's Akbar Nama, says the eminent historian, it
furnishes information we did not have earlier. He then recalls what has been
done in regard to Qandhari's history by scholars already : "The
Tarikh-i-Akbari has been excellently edited and annotated by Muinuddin
Nadvi, Azhar Ali Dehlawi and Imtiaz Ali Arshi." And so, the need of the hour
: "What it [ the Tarikh-i-Akbari ] now needed was a full-scale English
translation." This pressing need, at last fulfilled : "This has been
provided by Dr. Tasneem Ahmad in a very competent manner, aiming at faithful
accuracy and at a critical assessment of the information here received by
comparing it with that offered by other sources."
Not just that. This most eminent of historians writes :
"The publication of Dr. Tasneem Ahmad's translation is a notable
contribution to the National celebration of the 450th Anniversary
of Akbar's birth. I feel confident that it would reinforce the
interest in Akbar's age widespread among those who have a care for
the long process of the creation of a composite culture and a
unity that together constitute what is India."
Not just the needs of history, therefore, those of secularism, of
unity based on a composite culture too fulfilled ! Such fulsome
commendation from the very eminent, Irfan Habib himself in his
Foreword to the book. And don't miss the description of India --
just the composite culture and unity which it has taken a long
process to create ! The unity of course being nothing but a
manifestation of, and totally dependent on that composite culture
! So, composite culture it is.
The compliments duly returned : "The first and foremost [sic.],"
writes Tasneem Ahmad, "I express my profound sense of gratitude,
very personal regards and respects to Professor Irfan Habib, who
encouraged and guided me at every stage of the work. In spite of
his very pressing engagements and pre-occupation, he ungrudgingly
spared his valuable time to examine with care every intricate
problem, arising out [sic.] during the course of work."
The debt to another of these eminences not forgotten either : "My
debt to my revered teacher," writes Tasneem Ahmad, "Professor
Satish Chandra is incalculable. He took great pains in reading and
correcting the work and his considered suggestions have paid me
rich dividend."
"Examining with care every problem arising out during the course of work"?
Taking "great pains in reading and correcting the work"? Advancing
"considered suggestions" which "pay rich dividend"? -- when the entire
manuscript has been lifted word for word from the work of Dr. Parmatma Saran
?
It isn't just a part of that composite culture that a subaltern should
execute such genuflections towards his patrons. It is plain prudence. By
thanking them for their "guidance at every stage," for their "corrections"
and "suggestions", the subaltern ensures that they too are culpable, and,
therefore, to protect themselves if for no other reason, they will shield
him!
The plagiarised book is appropriately dedicated : "To the memory of my
revered Ustad," writes Tasneem Ahmad, "Professor S. Nurul Hasan" -- a
"scholar" famous for his unpublished writings, the initial master-mind who
coordinated the capture of academic institutions by the progressives. How
fitting -- that when it comes to dedicating something to such a person, the
devotee should give as offering a stolen manuscript !
And what do we learn now?
"For some time an allegation has been made on one of the employees of the
Council," begins a note prepared for the ICHR meeting held on 31 August and
September 1, "that a work entitled Tarikh-i-Akbari, translated by Professor
Parmatma Saran under the scheme of the ICHR, was appropriated by the Deputy
Director of a Medieval Unit [of the ICHR itself]." Because of the
persistence of this allegation, and because of questions raised by members
of Parliament, it goes on to say, the Chairman constituted a Fact-Finding
Committee on 8 August, 1998 to get to the bottom of the matter.
The Committee consisted of Professor K. S. Lal, an authority on medieval
India, Professor Harbans Mukhia of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Dr.
T. R. Sareen, former Director of the ICHR. It was asked to assess, inter
alia, whether Dr. Parmatma Saran's manuscript had been received in the
Council [ you will recall that in one of their letters to me the Ministry of
Human Resource Development had said that it did not seem that the manuscript
had ever been received ], and to ascertain whether the manuscript had been
"in any form plagiarised by any body, within or outside the Council."
The manuscript of 62 pages which, as I reported earlier, had been recovered
in the almirahs of the ICHR was turned over to the Committee. Here are the
Committee's findings on the questions :
"(1) On the strength of the published Annual Report of the ICHR
for the year 1976-77 (p. 11), it is obvious that the translation
of Tarikh-i-Akbari into English done by Professor Parmatma Saran
was received in the Council. This is also confirmed by the report
submitted by the Grants-in-Aid Unit of the Council dated 24.8.1995
when a preliminary enquiry was constituted to locate the
manuscript. The fact(s) (are) that full payment of honorarium was
made to the scholar (which in normal case is only done after the
receipt of the completed manuscript), and the second project was
granted to Professor P. Saran only after completion of the first
project. This related to the translation of Mirat-ul-Istlab, which
was assigned to Professor P. Saran in February, 1978. This also
indirectly confirms the receipt of the earlier manuscript on
Tarikh-i-Akbari. With this evidence, the Committee is led to
believe that there is no reason to doubt the receipt of the
manuscript Tarikh-i-Akbari by the Council.
(2) The Committee was provided with sixty odd pages of type-script
of the translation of Tarikh-i-Akbari done by Professor P. Saran.
These pages were recovered from the file dealing with the
translation assigned to Professor P. Saran. These pages were
compared with that published by one of the members of the ICHR,
Shri Tasneem Ahmad, and the Committee found overwhelming
similarity between Professor P. Saran's translation and Shri
Ahmad's book. The Committee felt that the similarity could not be
accidental and the element of plagiarism cannot be ruled out."
How befitting : as tribute to the 450th anniversary of Akbar, to that
"composite culture and unity that together constitute India" a plagiarised
book !
And the finale : in his office at the ICHR Tasneem Ahmad has kept on display
a photograph -- it shows him presenting the book to the then President of
India, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma ! The touch of a master, that !
As the days proceed, more and more gems regarding the doings of these
eminent historians keep tumbling out. The latest project I have learnt about
can any day match the ones we have been considering in ambition -- and in
non-achievement too. In addition, the records relating to it give us a
glimpse of the entrepreneurial techniques of the eminences.
This particular project was started in 1987. It was to produce a Dictionary
of Socio-Economic and Administrative Terms in Indian Inscriptions. The
Dictionary was to be in nine volumes -- that is a key element in the
technology : always propose many volumes ! The project was to completed in
fifteen years -- another key element : who knows who will be around 15 years
hence ! Twenty lakhs of Rupees were to be taken for the project -- a third
element : never be niggardly in demanding public funds !
Who were to be in charge ? Our good friends. R. S. Sharma, a leading light
of the Leftists, a former Chairman of the ICHR, later a leading advisor to
the Sunni Wakf Board in its efforts to wrest the Babri Masjid site -- he
graciously agreed to be the "General Editor". K. M. Shrimali, who has been
very voluble on behalf of the Camp in the recent controversies, and K. V.
Ramesh, with as much grace, agreed to be the "Main Editors". In addition an
"Advisory Board" of another eleven eminences was constituted to oversee the
project -- this is always a good device : thereby friends can meet at
Government expense, and responsibility of the main suspects is always
scattered.
Soon, the scope of the project was enlarged : Arabic, Persian and Urdu
inscriptions too would be included. And soon this new part too was enlarged
: farmans and the like in these languages would also be included, not just
inscriptions. This too is always useful : enlarge the project every few
months, the new items become the explanation for not having kept to the
deadlines specified for the original proposal ! And who would do this part
of the project ? Why, the most eminent of them all : "Responsibility for
compiling the Arabic, Persian and Urdu inscriptions was accepted by
Professor Irfan Habib on the request of the ICHR," the records state. How
kind !
Everyone was to work in an "honorary capacity" -- but in the special sense
in which these worthies use the term "honorary" ! Each of the two "Main
Editors", the "Editorial Committee" of the project decided in its meeting on
20 September, 1990, would be paid "an honorarium" of Rs. 5,000/- for every
four months. The General Editor too would be paid an honorarium of Rs.
3,000/- for every four months. A very important rule that -- never take
money, take honoraria ! The Committee also decided, "Professor Shrimali may
be allowed to purchase relevant books in connection with the work of the
project if the books are not supplied to him by the ICHR within a reasonable
time" -- a bit of honorariness which every scholar would lust after !
By 1994 there was a problem : there was little progress to record, though
money was getting spent. The then Chairman, Ravinder Kumar [very eminent,
the head of the Nehru Museum and Library etc.] convenes a meeting of what
the record christens the "Consultative Committee". The solution ? The
Committee decides that a revised proposal be prepared ! Another sure-winner
: months can be put to debating, drafting, redrafting, circulating,
finalizing this, soon you can be arguing that the revised proposal contains
elements which can be attended to only with an enhanced budget....
Better still -- prepare not a "revised proposal", prepare a "draft revised
proposal". And that is what was done. A "draft revised proposal" was
prepared, and, the record states, "handed over to the Chairman [Ravinder
Kumar] for necessary action and approval."
Sunk without trace ! "It seems, that the draft proposal was not approved,"
states the review note prepared by the ICHR now, "and work was not taken up
as per revised plan [sic.]."
A spat is always useful, specially one involving principle, personal honour,
self-respect. And, happily, one erupted. At a meeting of the Research
Projects Committee, someone -- perhaps Irfan Habib, I am not able to make
out from the record -- raised an objection : a Committee "in which there was
very substantial membership of those who were to be beneficiaries of such a
decision" should not have decided about payments to be made to the editors
etc., he objected. Arguments ensued, tempers rose. But even as it decided
that this shall be a "firm policy for the future", the meeting decided that
"each Main Editor, on completion of a particular volume with which he has
been associated, be paid an honorarium of Rs. 25,000/-."
It noted that this decision was strictly in accordance with precedent ! "The
Committee was prompted to this decision," the minutes record, "in the
knowledge that in the 'Towards Freedom' project of the ICHR each volume
Editor was to be paid Rs. 25,000/- for his contribution." Unassailable logic
: as editors were to get that amount under a project which was not getting
anywhere, why not under another project which was not getting anywhere
either ?
That decided, through an innocuous sentence tagged on to the end of a
paragraph, the minutes slipped in another opportunity : "It may be noted,"
the minutes noted, "that two or more Main Editors may be associated with the
completion of each volume of the Dictionary project." From two "Main
Editors" for nine volumes, to "two or more Main Editors" for each volume !
"As for the Chief Editor [a promotion that, he had till now been known as
the 'General Editor'!]," the minutes recorded, "he should receive a sum of
Rs. 30,000/- on the publication of each volume."
R. S. Sharma, as befits his eminence as much as his Leftism, threw a fit --
always a useful thing to do a few years into a project : you can then allow
yourself to be persuaded, and, when questions are raised later about nothing
having been done, you can always claim that you in any case had not wanted
any part of the project. "In view of the strictures passed on the
'beneficiaries' of the Dictionary project in the RPC [Research Projects
Committee] meeting," he wrote to the Council, "I would not like to continue
as Chief Editor. I neither asked for any 'benefice'/ 'benefit' in any
meeting or outside nor did I receive any remuneration for the work that I
did for the project. As far as I can remember none of the Main Editors asked
for any benefit or remuneration in any meeting of the Editorial Committee."
H. R. Deve Gowda, the then Prime Minster, and S. R. Bommai, the then
Minister for Human Resource Development, selected the well-known art
historian, Professor S. Settar to be the Chairman of the ICHR. In a sense an
outsider, he was duly alarmed at the state of such projects. He addressed
letters to Sharma, Shrimali and Ramesh in March 1997 inquiring about the
work they had done. Months went by, he could not nudge anyone concerned to
get on with the work. He accordingly convened a meeting of R. S. Sharma and
Irfan Habib on 29 September, 1997. He was asked to contact Shrimali and
Ramesh again.
Ramesh now deployed the next weapon : ask for more ! Fools will always throw
in good money after bad. He wrote back saying that for him to do the work,
the Council should appoint three more scholars to assist him [so helpful was
he that he specified the names of the three also !], that the Council
provide him with a computer assistant, and also with rented accommodation !
The Chairman wrote pointing out that already Rs. 45,000/- had been paid to
Ramesh, seven years had passed, and asked how much more time was required.
Another year "may be required" if the terms he had proposed were met, Ramesh
answered !
In despair, Settar turned to Irfan Habib and Sharma again and "appealed" to
them to help out -- another tactic : subalterns block the pass; the only way
the fellow can hope to proceed is by beseeching, and thereby getting in the
debt of the principals ! Sharma recalled that he had already dissociated
himself from the project -- vide the "beneficiaries" spat. In any event, the
two met Settar, and agreed to submit -- by now you should be able to guess
-- a revised project each !
"The detailed note of the revised project promised by Professor Sharma has
not been received so far," the ICHR was informed at its meeting on August
31-September 1. "Professor Irfan Habib has yet to send his detailed proposal
which he promised to send on 10.3.98."
As more and more queries were coming about the project, R. S. Sharma wrote
to the Chairman on 7 July, 1998 that "at present I and Shrimali are terribly
busy with the editing of Comprehensive History of India, Vol. IV, pt. 2. I
will consult Shrimali to find out whether he can spare some time for the
project this year, though I am not hopeful. A meeting of Ramesh, Shrimali
and other members of the editorial board should be helpful for completing
the project as soon as possible." Notice the tone : far from being the one
who shares a major part of the responsibility for the state of affairs, the
person is offering to do a favour, to, against his better judgment, contact
Shrimali and see if something can be done to help the Chairman out !
The result ? By now eleven years have passed. Rs. THREE LAKHS SEVENTY FOUR
THOUSAND have been spent. Nothing but nothing has been published. Thousands
of "cards" are said to have been compiled by specially hired "compilers" --
these remain in the personal custody of Shrimali and Ramesh. And the
Chairman is under advice that to get the project going he has to convene a
meeting of the very persons who have brought the project to this state --
with the caveat, of course, that the conditions specified by one of them
must first be met, and that the other -- the TV star -- is "terribly busy"
on some other project !
And, never forget, if the ICHR takes any step to bring them to account, if
it takes any step to hand over the project to anyone else, it is doing so
because these eminent historians are secular, and the Council is now set to
saffronize history !