ABSTRACT
In the same spirit as Michael W. Apple and Kristen L. Buras in The Subaltern Speak (2006), I adopt here a mainly synchronic approach. I will compare the positions of different groups at a particular time and on the same subject in order to ‘illustrate the complexities of contests among differentially empowered groups to influence the construction of knowledge and appropriation of resources in the arena of education’ (Buras and Apple 2006: 3). Generally speaking, a party in power is in a position to appropriate resources in the field of education. It can play a decisive part in the construction of knowledge by influencing research through the allocation of funds and through the appointment of persons of its choice in the academic field. It is nevertheless probable that such a hegemonic position would lead to the formation of an opposition. The conflict opposing secular and Hindu nationalist historians is an example of such a process.
