The sixth annual conference of the Kerala History Congress began at PSMO College, Tirurangadi, on Thursday with a clarion call to strive for scientific, secular and critical history.
Presiding over the inaugural session, Kesavan Veluthat warned the researchers of history to be vigilant against vested interests disseminating falsehood in the name of history.
Prof. Veluthat cautioned against attempts by those in governance at the Centre to marginalise the academic history and to promote alternative history for political gains. “The time demands that we should strive for scientific, secular and critical history,” he said.
Noted epigraphist M.R. Raghava Varier inaugurated the conference.
Susanne Rau, professor of spatial history at Erfurt University, Germany, in her keynote address, spoke on ‘The city: a special configuration’, especially dealing with the urban history of Kozhikode.
Prof. Veluthat delivered the M. Gangadharan Memorial speech on ‘History and literature’. K.T. Jaleel, MLA, delivered the M.K. Haji Memorial lecture. He spoke about different facets of M.K. Haji, a philanthropist who laid the foundation for the Tirungadi Yatheemkana in the backdrop of a miserable social condition caused by the Malabar Mapla Rebellion of 1921.
As Tirurangadi was the epicenter of the Malabar Rebellion, a special panel discussion was held on ‘1921: past and present’, in which panelists P.P. Abdul Razak, Hussain Randathani, K.S. Madhavan, Shamsad Hussain, and P. Surendran spoke.
K.N. Ganesh will speak on ‘Culture and practice of history’ on Friday. The History Congress will end on Saturday.
