HC disposes of petition on 1800 uprising

Chennai, Nov 1 (UNI) The Madras High Court today disposed of a petition seeking a suitable direction to the authorities to accord due recognition to the 1800 uprising against British rule in South India and declare it the First War of Independence.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice A P Shah and Mr Justice K Chandru, dealing with the petition filed by Prof Rajayyan, noted professor of history, directed the authorities to dispose of a representation made by him on March 3, 2006, in accordance with law.

Prof Rajayyan summorised the significance of the South India rebellions. He disputed the depiction of the 1857 Mutiny as the First War of Independence. Listing events from 1800 chronologically, he said the South Indian rebellion was fought over half a century earlier. But historical research missed it.

The authorities were planning to celebrate the War of Independence of 1857 on a grand scale. This would aggravate discrimination and result in denial of justice to major events in national history and violate historical chronology as well as objectivity, he added.

The bench said the submission could not be accepted. Historical events leading to the 1857 Mutiny had come to stay and the people of India would always cherish it in their memory. Therefore, this court need not enter the controversy about its historical validity.

On the prayer to declare the 1800 rebellion as the First War of Independence, the judges said this court could not go into such issues, that too in proceedings initiated under Article 226 of the Constitution. While there could be no final word on issues relating to historical events, the merits and demerits of particular events could not be gone into by this court. ''We must refrain from commenting on academic issues and it is best left to the decision making process by academic bodies,'' the bench added.

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