People should confront forces destroying India's ethos: Habib

Noted historian Irfan Habib has said those who cherish the idea of India and its spirit of democracy, including the Left and non-Left, should come on a single platform to confront the "forces" which are out to destroy the composite ethos of the country.
Delivering a lecture on "India in Peril" at the Aligarh Muslim University, Habib said the time had come for all nationalist forces to defend the principles on which this great nation was founded and which are enshrined in the letter and spirit of the country's constitution.
He said certain "forces have been unleashed" during the past year or so which were leaving no opportunity for "intimidating, polarising and weakening" the country.

Noting that no single group of people or government of the time has the right to define nationalism, he said it was not the preserve of any particular ideology but rests on the broader interests of the welfare of society.
It is ironical that the RSS which had refused to honour the national flag and Constitution right up till 1948 is today claiming the sole right to define nationalism and anti-nationalism, Habib said.
The RSS had been declared anti-national by free India's first government for not honouring the national flag and the Constitution and let off only after it apologised, the eminent historian said.

He said it is strange that lessons on patriotism are being bandied about by the same people who played no role in the country's freedom struggle.