This refers to Mihir S Sharma’s review of Perry Anderson’s book, “The Indian Ideology” (November 1). I do not know the basis of Sharma’s sweeping assertions — such as scholars like Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Ramachandra Guha and Amartya Sen are not representatives and are viewed as “outsiders” and “most academics in India are more Marxist in orientation”; and the rhetorical question, “... don’t most of us far prefer to remember men like Bhagat Singh...?”. That Subhash Chandra Bose and V D Savarkar are excluded from the story of India’s Independence must be evident even to the reviewer. His counter, “... ask the man on the street...” is no refutation at all and, in fact, makes a mockery of the concept of historiography. I can’t speak for Kolkata – the dear city of my student days – since I moved out from it long ago. But, as one who has been living in Mumbai for over 40 years, I can say “the man on the street” here – preoccupied as he is with making both ends meet – is unlikely to care about either Gandhi or Savarkar. Did someone say “my way or the highway”?
Parthasarathy Chaganty, Mumbai
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