Summary o the book the murder of history by K.K Aziz

 

book cover

Human beings began living in groups thousands of years ago for safety and survival. As soon as group life started, hierarchy also appeared. Throughout history, every society has been dominated by a small ruling class that tries to protect and expand its power. Whomsoever  stand against the ruling class  and  present ideas  other then the established order and norm of the society  their voice were suppressed. The ruling minority who are always been the beneficiary of  the system don't want the masses to aligned to other order and norms, many example of such incident can be narrated  from poisoning of Socrates by Athens  to killing of Jamal Kashoggi by kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In late 18th century when the wave of nationalism ripple into the palace of monarchies some power full people tries to take advantages of the new system, they tries to induce the passion of false nationalism into the mind of people and thus the  suffering and exploitation  of the masses continue in a different direction.

The creation of    Pakistan and India  in mid 20th century can be a good example of  this false nationalism. when the British came to the subcontinent  they bring  inclusive economic and meritocratic social system  with them, these systems greatly damage the interests and monopolies of the powerful stratum in economic and social realms of the subcontinent, so they became  aware of the fact that the officialdom which was prevailing from the time of their distant forefather will not further work in the modern and rapidly industrializing world, therefore they try to take advantages from the wave of nationalism and increase their involvement in the active politics, the formation of Congress in 1885 and  Muslim league  in 1906 by Nawabs was part of the same series.

 Both parties promoted versions of nationalism that ignored reality. Congress spoke of one united India but overlooked the deep ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity of the region. The Muslim League, by demanding division mainly on religious lines, increased hostility between communities and ignored the future of Sikhs, Buddhists, and other minorities. Nationalism based on only one identity—language, race, or religion—cannot work in such a diverse society.

After independence, Pakistan fell into the hands of a small elite that continued to rule through fear, nationalism, and misinformation. History was rewritten to hide state mistakes. The education system, especially Pakistan Studies, became a tool to shape young minds. Events like the 1965 war are taught as great victories, even when reality is more complex. Aziz argued that such teaching kills real history, which is why he was called a traitor and his book was banned 

As he rightly mention that distortion of historical fact to  make the citizen unconscious of the mistake made by the state  will not  strengthen the national cohesion between different ethnic group of Pakistan rather it will only increase injustice, intolerance and further division,   which will ultimately result in more poverty, bad governance, economic insecurity, internal and external security challenges, precarious situation or even to disintegration of the state.  so  if we want to sustain and develop as a successful  nation we should be truly aware of our real history celebrate it but  at the same time  feel guilty on  mistakes which we made in the past and try to rectify them instead of deliberately  falsifying and glorifying them.