New Delhi (TIP)- The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) dropped some references to the Babri Masjid, the politics of Hindutva, the 2002 Gujarat riots, and minorities, in its political science textbook for Class 12 that will come into effect from this academic session, adding to a growing list of textbook changes and updates on sensitive topics in recent years.
The changes were made public by the body on its website on Thursday, April 4. The NCERT textbooks are taught in schools under the Central Board of Secondary Education, to which roughly 30,000 schools in India are affiliated.
To be sure, references to the same subjects might occur at other places in the textbook.
NCERT officials did not respond to requests seeking comment.
In chapter 8, Recent Developments in Indian Politics, references to the “Ayodhya demolition” was dropped.
“What is the legacy of the Ram Janambhoomi movement and the Ayodhya demolition for the nature of political mobilisation?” was changed to “What is the legacy of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement?”
“To bring the initial questions in synchronisation with internal latest changes made in the chapter,” was the rationale offered by the body.
In the same chapter, reference to the Babri Masjid and the politics of Hindutva were dropped.
The earlier paragraph was – “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 was changed to – “Fourth, the centuries old legal and political dispute over the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya started influencing the politics of India which gave birth to various political changes. The Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Movement, becoming the central issue, transformed the direction of the discourse on secularism and democracy. These changes culminated in the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya following the decision of the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court (which was announced on November 9, 2019).”
NCERT said in the document that the content was updated as per “latest development in politics”.
In chapter 5, Democratic Rights, a reference to the Gujarat riots, was dropped in the caption to a news collage.
The earlier version was – “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 struggles for human dignity. Many cases of human rights violations in diverse fields, for instance, Gujarat riots, are being brought to the public notice from across India.”
Source: HT