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Did you know Maharana Pratap won the Battle of Haldighati? Rajasthan govt all set to rewrite history
We’ve said it before, India is truly where it all started when it comes to this whole ‘alternate facts’ thing. Our politicians have mastered it for some time now and the latest to exhibit their expertise in this department are Rajasthan Members of Legislative Assembly. According to an Indian Express report published today, the Vasundhara Raje-led government has backed a proposal to rewrite “the history curriculum in Rajasthan University to portray Maharana Pratap as the winner of the 1576 battle of Haldighati”. The idea seems to be the brainchild of former state Higher Education Minister Kalicharan Saraf, who is now Health Minister.
The Battle of Haldighati was fought between the Mughal forces of Akbar, led by Man Singh, and those of Maharana Pratap. Saraf feels that since Akbar was an invader, it is best that he be relegated to being a loser in the annals of history. He is quoted in the report to say: “…But the fact is that Akbar was a foreign invader and Maharana Pratap was a brave, patriotic ruler. And if there is a proposal to correct this mistake and tell students that Maharana Pratap actually won the battle, then what is wrong with it?”
We don’t think the minister should stop at this. Maharana Pratap should win the battle of Haldighati, go on to form a new city called Maharana Pratap Sekhri near Agra to mark his victory and then go on to conquer Central India, South India, all of India, Central Asia, enemy-state Pakistan and the whole wide world. While he’s at it, he may as well marry Jodha Bai and it won’t even be love jihad anymore. Not just that, then Bollywood can make a film about what actually happened and we can all pass it off as fantasy.
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