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3 days ago, I woke up early to watch
India's finance minister N Sitharaman deliver an annual ritual , originating in 1860 thanks to the economic aftermath of the First Battle of Independence of
India in 1857. It was quite eerie to think that the situation in the
country current FM found herself in, wasn't not too different from what James Wilson had to face- rising public debt, muddled data on income and expenses, a
mini agrarian crisis (which turned into a full blown famine) and even a non-violent revolt (Indigo revolt had just concluded vis-a-vis ongoing
Anti-CAA protests).
“Don't tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value.”― Joe Biden
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| James Wilson, "Source" of Indian Budget |
Indeed one of the things that Budget-2020 did very similar to that 1860 paper was to introduce an Income Tax regime (well v2.0, if that's what we could call it)
Listening to the speech invoked nostalgia,
as is usually the case with such rituals. As a child, in days before TV became
a household reality ( and for a while after that), I remember the conversation
in the house the morning after "Annual Budget" was announced in
India. With no economics guru around to discuss about the levels of fiscal deficit, amount of subventions, and other jargon, it was left for the broadsheets of the day - in English
as well as vernacular, to answer, in simple terms- 3 questions
:
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| Typical broadsheet front page post budget speech |
1. What is the change to the income tax slabs (along with newly introduced/ removed incentives)?
2. What things have gone dearer/ cheaper as compared to previous year?
The fact that the same night, another much wider study (which the aforementioned one was a part of !) published in Science, unequivocally said that AIT seemed even more logical given the same DNA evidence- didn't bottle the genie; nor did the statements contradicting the claims of Prof Shinde, by his co-researchers and other notable archaeologists.
2. What things have gone dearer/ cheaper as compared to previous year?
3. What is the proposed high level expenditure/ new schemes of Govt in specific sectors or geographies, which may drive personal investment decisions - equity as well as real estate.
As if by instinct, my mind was making note of the bits in the speech that I could understand , on the lines of these 3 categories. And in the third set, I found a very interesting proposal- that of developing 5 archaeological locations across India as "Iconic sites".
I assume, this announcement would have pleased local folks at those sites, who would believe that the "development" may yield windfall gains in real estate. To someone like me, it came as a pleasant surprise- when one sees so little has been done in India by successive governments (including this one) to promote knowledge about ancient India and the achievements of this country, not only to our fellow countrymen, but also to the foreign lands.
I assume, this announcement would have pleased local folks at those sites, who would believe that the "development" may yield windfall gains in real estate. To someone like me, it came as a pleasant surprise- when one sees so little has been done in India by successive governments (including this one) to promote knowledge about ancient India and the achievements of this country, not only to our fellow countrymen, but also to the foreign lands.
One could argue this to be yet another wasteful expenditure by a government, which seems to be following an agenda of nationalistic propaganda without actual verifiable returns. Even more so at a time when spending money on things related to Ancient history may sound like mislaid priorities, given the economic situation. However, on this one- I beg to differ with the naysayers- albeit with riders attached. Would come to that later.
First, let us just try to figure what investments in archaeology could do for Indian economy, and based on evidence from -- yup! History, of other nations.
"Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times."-Machiavelli
Archaeology and Development of a Modern Nation
Archaeology, until as recently as 1970s, was broadly considered a neutral academic discipline, free from political influence and impact. There was however, a school, of different opinion- which cited Nazi efforts under Himmler as a refuting example. The arguers also added to the list - the work of Karl Maush and Cecil Rhodes in Greater Zimbabwe, and role of Biskupin in race relations within Poland.
The fact that almost all of these examples only underline a negative impact of focus on archeology is actually an unfair, partial representation of truth. In reality, Archaeology, like History has indeed played a major part in building national conscience, societal structures and even economies.
The fact that almost all of these examples only underline a negative impact of focus on archeology is actually an unfair, partial representation of truth. In reality, Archaeology, like History has indeed played a major part in building national conscience, societal structures and even economies.
Of the 3 levels of development (individual, social and economical) its indeed the economic one which holds most water, if evidence from other countries is to be counted.
Academic: Promotion of Archaeological finds has cascading impact on researches being conducted in other fields of economic importance- a number of examples abound- be it controlling climate change by resurrecting mammoths from fossils or science of tissue preservation from the remains of Xin Zhui, which could be applied in reducing food waste by lengthening rotting time for meat products.
Tourism: Tourism has been a money-spinner in India especially since the 1980s and "Incredible India!" is indeed one of the celebrated success story for our nation. However, with the growth from existing destinations plateauing, one could easily forecast the positive impact of new "tourist circuits", if developed well. Spain and Mexico did it with Camino De Santiago (2013) and Chichen Itza light shows respectively.
Even more importantly, it could place India finally on the archaeological tourism map of the world- with a near continuous and illustrious history as ours, its deplorable that not one Indian site figures on the top 10 archaelogical destinations in the world.
We don't have to look far- Cambodia has already shown the way with their promotion of Angkor since 1992.A country which received 100,000 tourists in 1993, earned $100 million in 2018 from the 2.6 Million tourists hosted by Angkor alone. A similar case is that of Guatemala- a country 1/30th the size of India, & a war-torn zone till 1996, today attracts an annual tourism revenue of $1.6B from its ruins.
Employment: At the current, unprecedented levels of unemployment prevalent in India, Archaeology led development could come in handy, in multiple ways. Apart from offering direct employment to thousands of people in form of curators, conservators, cultural officers, guides and support staff; archaeology facilitates market opportunities to the handicraft industry, that often employ women and disadvantaged groups; as well as local hotel and restaurant businesses.
In the same example of Spain, as given above, the unemployment rate dropped by 2% in that country in 2015, on account of increased tourism, a large part of which was on account of developed archeo-tourism.
All in all, if we can take pointers from the countries across the world, it would predicate that this proposal makes sense on economical front, apart from its socio-cultural benefits- namely raising awareness among the masses about India's illustrious past.
However, it could all go horribly wrong, particularly on the latter aspect-given both the existing apathy towards evidence-based historical narrative in India as well as the overt agenda of Hindu-nationalism paraded by a vociferous section of leaders in this government
Even more importantly, it could place India finally on the archaeological tourism map of the world- with a near continuous and illustrious history as ours, its deplorable that not one Indian site figures on the top 10 archaelogical destinations in the world.
We don't have to look far- Cambodia has already shown the way with their promotion of Angkor since 1992.A country which received 100,000 tourists in 1993, earned $100 million in 2018 from the 2.6 Million tourists hosted by Angkor alone. A similar case is that of Guatemala- a country 1/30th the size of India, & a war-torn zone till 1996, today attracts an annual tourism revenue of $1.6B from its ruins.
Employment: At the current, unprecedented levels of unemployment prevalent in India, Archaeology led development could come in handy, in multiple ways. Apart from offering direct employment to thousands of people in form of curators, conservators, cultural officers, guides and support staff; archaeology facilitates market opportunities to the handicraft industry, that often employ women and disadvantaged groups; as well as local hotel and restaurant businesses.
In the same example of Spain, as given above, the unemployment rate dropped by 2% in that country in 2015, on account of increased tourism, a large part of which was on account of developed archeo-tourism.
All in all, if we can take pointers from the countries across the world, it would predicate that this proposal makes sense on economical front, apart from its socio-cultural benefits- namely raising awareness among the masses about India's illustrious past.
However, it could all go horribly wrong, particularly on the latter aspect-given both the existing apathy towards evidence-based historical narrative in India as well as the overt agenda of Hindu-nationalism paraded by a vociferous section of leaders in this government
A word of caution
There has to an objectivity and rationalism while promoting the history, and the hyper-nationalist agenda of this government , along with near complete lack of desire to promote scientifically and historically accurate narratives, does mean that this initiative could end-up doing more harm than good, if badly executed. And this government does have a reputation of poor execution of seemingly good plans - from Make in India to Swachch Bharat, Demonetization to GST.
The skeptic in me keeps pointing at the apathy a common man shows to reading proper history; and more so the leaders in this government -right from the top.
From legitimizing mythology as historical fact, to misplacing people at places, to creating impossible meeting of people ( over centuries), the prime minister has done it all. And the common man, esp members of his cult, just lap up to these narratives as holier than truth itself!
One couldn't blame the lack of formal education (his invisible degree in "whole political science" aside) for the dismal understanding of India's History by its most popular leader. For, the education system in India prizes Mathematics and Science over History and Geography, leading to a general disdain for both. Moreover, the study of History itself is constrained by the fluctuations caused by ideological battles in which today’s heroes become tomorrow’s demons (Tipu Sultan being the classic example).
The basic ignorance of the common man is proven by the dream run of what now passes for “popular” history in India and repeated "protests" against one or another "historical" movies produced in India. Bollywood sanitises (Rustom's dress) and prettify characters (Mohan Jo Daro, Ashoka) and episodes (Mangal Pandey) from history, and tailor incidents to suit prevalent beliefs. Any attempt to point factual nuggets which go against even quasi-mythical characters (Padmaavat, Jodha Akbar) and events (relationship of BajiRao Mastani, operation of her son in Mary Kom) raise the ire of masses- who just go by what they read in popular re-telling of our mythology, or worse - on social media messages.
The basic ignorance of the common man is proven by the dream run of what now passes for “popular” history in India and repeated "protests" against one or another "historical" movies produced in India. Bollywood sanitises (Rustom's dress) and prettify characters (Mohan Jo Daro, Ashoka) and episodes (Mangal Pandey) from history, and tailor incidents to suit prevalent beliefs. Any attempt to point factual nuggets which go against even quasi-mythical characters (Padmaavat, Jodha Akbar) and events (relationship of BajiRao Mastani, operation of her son in Mary Kom) raise the ire of masses- who just go by what they read in popular re-telling of our mythology, or worse - on social media messages.
With the overt right-wing, "Everything was already there in India" cacophony being peddled even in academic fora now a days, there lies a risk of these sites becoming yet another tool in the propaganda for a retelling of our history, very similar to what Alfred Rosenberg and Hans Reinerth did 80 years ago.
"We can learn from history, but we can also deceive ourselves when we selectively take evidence from the past to justify what we have already made up our minds to do."- Margaret Macmillan
The best example for showcasing this risk indeed involves one of these 5 sites-Rakhigarhi.
On September 5th ,2019- social media and mainstream "news channels" in India were agog with an avalanche of triumphal tweets and headlines: ‘Aryan migration theory bites the dust!’ and such like. Reason: A press conference organized by archaeologist Prof Vasant Shinde, and geneticist Niraj Rai, about the DNA analysis done on a 4500 year old female skeleton. The subtle menu of assertions and teasers Prof Shinde and Rai put forth in public, walked a brittle line between scientific verities, plausible fabulism and downright conjecture.
Put simply/ analogically - Prof Shinde suggested, based on records of 13th Century India, that British never came to India, because no evidence was found about existence of British in those records. End result: A shot in the arm to the "Out of India Theory" (OIT)- the poster child of Hindutva organisations.
The fact that the same night, another much wider study (which the aforementioned one was a part of !) published in Science, unequivocally said that AIT seemed even more logical given the same DNA evidence- didn't bottle the genie; nor did the statements contradicting the claims of Prof Shinde, by his co-researchers and other notable archaeologists.
One may question the practical impact of this purported debunking of AIT , apart from fanning the popular narrative. And the answer lies in the furthermost frontier of modern medicine- development of cure for infectious and autoimmune diseases based on archeological evidence and gene pools of different populace. A lot of research is going on in creating evolutionary and genome medicine, which would in a way, follow the evolution of human phenotypes across geographies, driven by proven migration paths. Thankfully, in this case, the researchers dont seem to have paid heed to the fanciful headlines in Indian media.
The extent to which our understanding about our past, and direction of scientific research in India would get affected by publicizing such archeological evidence, is going to be dependent on factually accurate, scientifically driven, and well managed execution of this project.
As Eric Hobsbawm most famously said:"I used to think that the profession of history, unlike that of, say, nuclear physics, could at least do no harm to a country. Now I know it can"
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