Shades of McCarthyism Anamika IT seems to be the turn of Hindu conmumalists, masquerading as champions of the nationalist cause, now to try derive maximum mileage from the internal Emergency in force till six months ago. The heat has been turned on some eminent historians who have been charged with having a pro- Muslim bias. An anonymous note, in the preparation of which professional jealousy obviously played a bit; role, was submitted to Morarji Desai recently by, as rumour has it, Nanaji Deshmukh. On the basis of this, the Prime Minister, through a written instruction issued by V Shankar, has asked the Union Education Minister, Pratap Chandra Chunder, to withdraw 'certain' history textbooks published by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and used in Central schools. It is significant that no historian has thought it fit to lend his name to the objections to these books, and that an issue which should have been discussed and thrashed out at the academic level may be sought to be settled through a fiat issued by the Prime Minister's office.
