When appropriating history becomes inconvenient: Decoding BJP’s Bankim Chandra problem

Quadry

BJP is trying to transform 19th-century novelist Bankim Chandra into a Hindu nationalist icon. There's one problem: his writings were anti-caste, pro-equality, and rather socialist. An analysis of political appropriation gone awry.

The BJP’s talent for historical revisionism has met an unexpected obstacle—Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, the Bengali novelist, they’re transforming into a Hindu nationalist icon.