Court rehabilitates last czar, his family

Communists the world over are one category of people for whom truth or historical accuracy has no value or even meaning. To them history is (or was) what they say it is (or was). That's not how the rest of the world regards either the study of history or the uses of history as a discipline. As a teacher of history at the University of Delhi (retired in 2005) it was my endeavour to say in my classes that history must be read as it indeed was and that we shall undestand the past correctly if we pay proper attention to the facts relating to the past. I go with EH Carr in his view that facts are sacred, which I interpret to mean that facts must be handled with regard for their complete accuracy. After all, history is an investigation of the past for the proper understanding of the present as preparation for the future. In the present case under report, the Russian supreme court has finally voted to give proper recognition to the Romanov family as victims of the mindless violence that ruled during that early phase after the Bolshevik revolution. By denying that till the other day the communists did not change the past. They only denied facts. The court has now established the facts. One more piece takes its due place in the design that was the past. It will assist towards an understanding of a violent phase of Russian history. V. C. Bhutani, Delhi, India, October 2, 2008, 1015 IST, vineycb1@vsnl.com