More tales of bewildering official secrecy
In addition to maps of the border area, it seems that the Indian government to this day has kept its records and investigations into the India-China War classified under the Public Records Act. Their 30-year declassification schedule was denied as well, and the documents remain top secret. Decried in a Rediff article commemorating that catastrophe, the official secrecy has basically allowed for the Chinese view of the conflict to dominate. The lack of an Indian side of the story contributed to the views of Kissinger and the White House in their 1972 trip which AGREED with the Chinese view of India as the aggressor!
The author Claude Alpi reveals further that:
"at the National Archives of India, all documents for the NEFA area (which included Tibet and Bhutan) were 'classified' after 1913 and nobody could access them. For 'Gilgit area' [read Kashmir], the date is 1923. This colonial terminology gives an indication of the backwardness of the historical studies in India. Have not the British left India 55 years ago?
What about the famous 'Nehru's Papers'? They are kept in the Nehru Library by a private trust, chaired by the leader of the opposition, and you have to obtain her consent to see them. In any case, you cannot see them, as they are 'restricted'.
Only 'official' historians are able to study them. The very helpful staff can only tell you: "Sorry, sir, this is the rule." India must be the only nation where the prime minister's official papers belong to his family and not the state!
In my case it was even more stupid because most of the political files regarding Tibet from 1914 till as late as 1952-53 were freely available for researchers in the India Office Library and Records in London. The moral of the story: go to London to study Indian history."
Aargh. This will certaintly make historical research more difficult. DAMN IT, OPEN THE RECORDS!
The author Claude Alpi reveals further that:
"at the National Archives of India, all documents for the NEFA area (which included Tibet and Bhutan) were 'classified' after 1913 and nobody could access them. For 'Gilgit area' [read Kashmir], the date is 1923. This colonial terminology gives an indication of the backwardness of the historical studies in India. Have not the British left India 55 years ago?
What about the famous 'Nehru's Papers'? They are kept in the Nehru Library by a private trust, chaired by the leader of the opposition, and you have to obtain her consent to see them. In any case, you cannot see them, as they are 'restricted'.
Only 'official' historians are able to study them. The very helpful staff can only tell you: "Sorry, sir, this is the rule." India must be the only nation where the prime minister's official papers belong to his family and not the state!
In my case it was even more stupid because most of the political files regarding Tibet from 1914 till as late as 1952-53 were freely available for researchers in the India Office Library and Records in London. The moral of the story: go to London to study Indian history."
Aargh. This will certaintly make historical research more difficult. DAMN IT, OPEN THE RECORDS!
posted by rajiv | permalink
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