Raphaëlle Khan, doctorate in history and international relations, specialist in contemporary India and currently with the City University of New York, explains: ” there are several cultural heritage institutions among the buildings that will be destroyed, including the National Archives attachment. However, the future of the documents found there is unclear. There is no transparency for their preservation and how they will be accessed. What is at stake here is what historians can then write about Indian history.”

This issue is all the more important because the ruling party, the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), brought about a very clear program to rewrite the country’s history, more compatible with the Hindu nationalist project of creating a monolithic, religious national identity. This ambition deviates from the conception of a secular state adopted by the great figures of independence. ”

Such an approach involves minimizing the role of a leader like Jawaharlal Nehru.” continued Raphaëlle Khan. ” ‘Luytens Delhi’, as it is called, is of course a British product, but has an eclectic and syncretic style. It was adopted by the independent India who took it. This is one of the central issues of this rebuilding: it is not a question of erasing British heritage like Nehru’s. The project is part of the ideological battle surrounding Indian history. This question may seem less important than a political speech or legal action, but it is not so in the long run. Changing the way young Indians understand their country’s history is tantamount to consolidating a vision that will be more difficult to change. »