Romila Thapar: ‘The rights of citizenship have faded’

To mark India’s 75th Independence Day, PEN America asked authors from India and the Indian diaspora to write short texts expressing what they felt.

Romila Thapar

· Aug 15, 2022 · 01:00 pm

Why Romila Thapar went to China in 1957: To study the history of Buddhism, not Communism

Excerpted with permission from ‘Gazing Eastwards: Of Buddhist Monks and Revolutionaries in China’, by Romila Thapar.

Romila Thapar

· Dec 17, 2020 · 08:30 am

Romila Thapar on the secular view of Indian history (and its differences with the communal one)

Excerpts from a conversation between Romila Thapar and her fellow historian Neeladri Bhattacharya.

Romila Thapar

 & 

Neeladri Bhattacharya

· Sep 04, 2019 · 05:30 pm

Romila Thapar: ‘Who were the Aryans?’ is a less important question than what it meant to be ‘Aryan’

The book ‘Which Of Us Are Aryans?’ approaches the question through various disciplines such as genetics, linguistics, and archaeology, besides historiography.

Romila Thapar

· Feb 14, 2019 · 05:30 pm

‘Urban Naxals’: It’s essential that right to dissent is not discarded in India, says Romila Thapar

In November, the historian delivered a video message at the Unesco headquarters on the freedom of speech and expression in India.

Romila Thapar

· Jan 29, 2019 · 08:00 am

Release the wrongfully arrested activists: Full text of petition filed by Romila Thapar and others

Five prominent civil society members petition the Supreme Court against the arrest of five activists.

Romila Thapar

, 

Devaki Jain

, 

Prabhat Patnaik

, 

Satish Deshpande

 & 

Maja Daruwala

· Aug 29, 2018 · 03:53 pm

The man who built JNU understood what a university stands for – the freedom to question and debate

First vice-chancellor Gopalaswami Parthasarathi’s vision of an institution of academic quality and wide accessibility made JNU iconic.

Romila Thapar

· Jul 03, 2018 · 12:30 pm

India should draft a fresh secular code applicable to all citizens, writes historian Romila Thapar

The eminent historian says that any evaluation of culture requires us to understand why certain groups have been historically excluded or discriminated against.

Romila Thapar

· Mar 14, 2018 · 05:53 pm

'Why can't we think of civilisation as a process of tracking cultures?': Historian Romila Thapar

Full text of the speech delivered at the 8th BR Ambedkar Memorial Lecture that pitched for rethinking civilisation as history.

Romila Thapar

· May 24, 2016 · 06:30 am

Bhagat Singh as revolutionary terrorist: Romila Thapar on why context is key to studying history

As politicians urge action against Bipan Chandra for his description of the freedom fighter, his colleague explains how the meanings of words change over time.

Romila Thapar

· May 05, 2016 · 08:31 am

How our education infrastructure is being systematically demolished

The attempt is to make everyone conform to one body of information, that, inevitably, will be dictated by those who are without specialised knowledge – politicians and bureaucrats.

Romila Thapar

· Oct 05, 2015 · 08:30 am

It's essential to question the fantasy pasts being palmed off as history

It is ironic that the historian today can be confronted by non-historians insisting on their version of the past being correct and accusing the historian of prejudice.

Romila Thapar

· Apr 13, 2014 · 06:15 am