Mumbai (The Hindu): The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will hold a mega meeting on Friday where party chief Sharad Pawar will discuss the ‘idea of India’ with more than 50 historians, the majority of them from Maharashtra.

The meeting is being organised to counter the cultural agenda being promoted by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and affiliated organisations.

At the meeting, historians from Delhi and the state will meet to discuss the changes promoted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government in academics, history books, institutions etc. Mr. Pawar will be attending the three-hour meeting, NCP sources said.

“There has been a systematic attack on the secular and inclusive fabric of the country. There have been attempts to change the ancient history of this nation. It is time to stand firmly against any such attempts and Friday’s meeting will be the beginning of it,” said a senior NCP leader.

He added that Mr. Pawar too was convinced of organising an ideological front to counter the RSS agenda of promoting ‘saffron’ history.

Among the historians to attend the meet include Ishrat Alam from Aligarh Muslim University, Prof Shirin Moosavi, Prof Srimali, MD David (former HoD of Mumbai University’s history department), Indrajit Sawant from Kolhapur, Dulari Qureishi from Aurangabad.

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