By: Bisma Noor

When history has been distorted and moulded enough to present thick layers of lies, then the probability of producing distorted and dark minds increased. The distortion breathes a healthy and peaceful life. The breath in the body of distortion is choked when some productive mind tries to trace down reality and unveils the truth but it takes time. One of the ignored distortions which has lived in the pages of Intermediate English textbook is the case of Churchill as he is found in the section of Heroes. Nothing poorer can happen to a nation than assuming a racist, murderer and savage man as a hero and then reading one of his excerpts in textbooks. That is why many students are found quoting Churchill on their social media status. This presents the deep darkness in which their minds are brought up and introduced to the world outside them.

Winston Churchill was also one of the dictators who brought many people's head under the brute shade of death. He deliberately and inhumanly acted as a savage person who for his own benefits sacrificed thousands of lives by creating an artificial famine for the people of India.  

It is to no doubt that Churchill himself was a totalitarian. Even though Britain was against the Nazis who were killing people for their own reason, Churchill also followed the same pattern. He came out to be worse than Adolf Hitler whose higher mission took 12 years, however, Churchill was able to bring 4 million people to their end in the span of 12 months only which is of course exceptionally cruel.

The condition of people at that time went worst as they had nothing to continue with the life. However, this incident has remained on margins until now. Madhursee Mukherjee has painted this picture well through these words “Parents dumped their starving children into rivers and wells. Many took their lives by throwing themselves in front of trains. Starving people begged for the starchy water in which rice had been boiled. Children ate leaves and vines, yam stems and grass. People were too weak even to cremate their loved ones.”

In response to the telegram sent to Churchill regarding the loss of lives and food in India, he replied “Why hasn’t Gandhi died yet?". Further, his comment about the famine and Indians reveals a lot about his wild nature and personality “I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion. The famine was their own fault for breeding like rabbits”. It clearly states that Churchill was extremely indifferent to the sufferings through which human beings were passing due to his inhumane policies.

Even after being divorced from a colonized country, the off springs and chicks of colonizers as well as colonization still act as the pests who have deliberately converted an unforgettable villain into a dramatic hero. The point here is not to promote the idea of hatred towards colonizers but to analyse and present history with a picture of truth in it where heroes and villains should be placed accordingly. The idea of portraying an imperial, prominent dictator as hero ironically represents the imperial control and psychological slavery of educated minds of an independent country.

If it is necessary to mention some imperial hero, then Marshall Brad law was a much better human being who even being one of them stands for truth and helped in promoting movement of independence with the establishment of Bradley Hall where all people against British government negotiated. When he was given order to leave the land of India, he began to live in water (River Ravi) but did not go against his true notion of helping Indians.

It is a point of wonder that even being aware of destruction and disaster brought by Churchill to our own ancestors and very own people, he is still in the list of heroes in the course designed for Intermediate students which indubitably gives them a very supreme view of the former colonizers. The students have been strategically kept away from their own indigenous roots and left in a world where only English and English people are good and progressing. This conscious effort of not exposing them to their own heroes like Baghat Singh and Tipu Sultan make them a slave of English thoughts. They are not even aware that the mesmerizing buildings and progress in England is due to the plunder and loot, Colonizers had done in India and other colonies. If history would be a net of lies full of ambiguity and perplexity then how we can assume a prosperous future for our nation who is not even informed of itself because "If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you’ll never appreciate where you’re going": as once remarked by Shashi Tharoor.

When history has been distorted and moulded enough to present thick layers of lies, then the probability of producing distorted and dark minds increases. The distortion breathes a healthy and peaceful life. The breath in the body of distortion is choked when some productive mind tries to trace down reality and unveil the truth but it takes time. One of the ignored distortions which have lived in the pages of Intermediate English textbook is the case of Churchill as he is found in the section of Heroes. Nothing more poor can happen to a nation then assuming a racist, murderer and savage man as a hero and then reading one of his excerpts in textbooks. That is why many students are found quoting Churchill on their social media status. This presents the deep darkness in which their minds are brought up and introduced to the world outside them.

Winston Churchill is also one of the dictator who brought many peoples head under the brute shade of death. He has deliberately and inhumanly acted as a savage person who for his own benefits has sacrificed thousands of lives by creating an artificial famine for the people of India.  

It is to no doubt that Churchill himself was a totalitarian. Even though Britain was against the Nazis who were killing people for their own reason, Churchill also followed the same pattern. He came out to be worse than Adolf Hitler whose higher mission took 12 years, however, Churchill was able to bring 4 million people to their end in the span of 12 months only which is of course exceptionally cruel.

The condition of people at that time went worst as they had nothing to continue with the life. However, this incident has remained on margins until now. Madhursee Mukherjee has painted this picture well through these words “Parents dumped their starving children into rivers and wells. Many took their lives by throwing themselves in front of trains. Starving people begged for the starchy water in which rice had been boiled. Children ate leaves and vines, yam stems and grass. People were too weak even to cremate their loved ones.”

In response to the telegram sent to Churchill regarding the loss of lives and food in India, he replied “Why hasn’t Gandhi died yet?". Further, his comment about the famine and Indians reveals a lot about his wild nature and personality “I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion. The famine was their own fault for breeding like rabbits”. It clearly states that Churchill was extremely indifferent to the sufferings through which human beings were passing due to his inhumane policies.

Even after being divorced from a colonized country, the off springs and chicks of colonizers as well as colonization still act as the pests who have deliberately converted an unforgettable villain into a dramatic hero. The point here is not to promote the idea of hatred towards colonizers but to analyse and present history with a picture of truth in it where heroes and villains should be placed accordingly. The idea of portraying an imperial, prominent dictator as hero ironically represents the imperial control and psychological slavery of educated minds of an independent country.

If it is necessary to mention some imperial hero, then Marshall Brad law was a much better human being who even being one of them stands for truth and helped in promoting movement of independence with the establishment of Bradley Hall where all people against British government negotiated. When he was given order to leave the land of India, he began to live in water (River Ravi) but did not go against his true notion of helping Indians.

It is a point of wonder that even being aware of destruction and disaster brought by Churchill to our own ancestors and very own people, he is still in the list of heroes in the course designed for Intermediate students which indubitably gives them a very supreme view of the former colonizers. The students have been strategically kept away from their own indigenous roots and left in a world where only English and English people are good and progressing. This conscious effort of not exposing them to their own heroes like Baghat Singh and Tipu Sultan make them a slave of English thoughts. They are not even aware that the mesmerizing buildings and progress in England is due to the plunder and loot, Colonizers had done in India and other colonies. If history would be a net of lies full of ambiguity and perplexity then how we can assume a prosperous future for our nation who is not even informed of itself because "If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you’ll never appreciate where you’re going": as once remarked by Shashi Tharoor.