The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has recently revised its textbooks, which include omitting mentions of the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, the violence against Muslims in Gujarat riots, and the ideology of Hindutva. Additionally, the reference to Manipur’s integration with India has also been tweaked. NCERT officials stated that these alterations are part of regular updates and are not related to the development of new books under the New Curriculum Framework (NCF). These modifications primarily affect the Political Science textbooks for classes 11 and 12, among others.
The curriculum drafting committee of the NCERT, has even tweaked references to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement to align with current political developments.
In a Class 11 textbook, Chapter 8 on Secularism previously stated, “More than 1,000 individuals, mostly Muslims, were killed during the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat in 2002.”
The wording has been altered to read, “more than 1,000 persons were killed during the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat in 2002.” The NCERT explains that the reason for the change is that “in any riots, people across communities suffer. It cannot be just one community.”
Regarding Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the previous textbook mentioned, “India claims that this area is under illegal occupation. Pakistan describes this area as ‘Azad Pakistan’.” The revised version now states, “However, it is Indian territory under illegal occupation by Pakistan, known as Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK).”
The NCERT’s reasoning behind the change is that it aligns “completely with the current stance of the Government of India regarding Jammu and Kashmir.”
Previously, the textbook stated regarding Manipur, “The Government of India succeeded in pressuring the Maharaja into signing a Merger Agreement in September 1949, without consulting the popularly elected Legislative Assembly of Manipur. This caused a lot of anger and resentment in Manipur, the repercussions of which are still being felt.” The revised version now says, “The Government of India succeeded in persuading the Maharaja into signing a Merger Agreement in September 1949.”
In Chapter 8, titled Recent Developments in Indian Politics, mentions of the “Ayodhya demolition” have been removed.
The question “What is the legacy of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and the Ayodhya demolition because of the nature of political mobilisation?” has been revised to “What is the legacy of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement?”.
Similarly, references to the Babri Masjid and the politics of Hindutva were eliminated from the same chapter. The previous paragraph stated: “Fourth, a number of events culminated in the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya (known as Babri Masjid) in December 1992. This event symbolised and triggered various changes in the politics of the country and intensified debates about the nature of Indian nationalism and secularism. These developments are associated with the rise of the BJP and the politics of ‘Hindutva’.”
This section was revised to state: “Fourth, the centuries-old legal and political dispute over the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya started influencing India’s political landscape, which gave birth to various political changes. The Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Movement, emerging as a central issue, altered the discourse on secularism and democracy. These changes ultimately resulted in the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya following the decision of the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench, announced on November 9, 2019.”
In Chapter 5, titled “Democratic Rights,” a reference to the Gujarat riots was removed from the caption of a news collage.
The original version read: “Do you notice references to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the news collage on this page? These references reflect the growing awareness of human rights and the struggle for human dignity. Many cases of human rights violations in diverse fields, for instance, the Gujarat riots, are being brought to public notice from across India.”
This was updated to: “Many cases of human rights violations in diverse fields are being brought to public notice from across India.”
Last week, the NCERT informed CBSE schools that new textbooks have been created for classes 3 and 6, while the textbooks for other classes, following the NCF, remain the same.
Nevertheless, the sequence of revisions will now be implemented in the books that have not yet been released, despite the new session has already begun.
(Picture Credit – LEAD School)
