NCERT has dropped the references of demolition of Babri Mosque in Ayodhya but keeps mention of Ramjanmabhoomi, the very mention of Muslims killed in post-Godhra Gujarat riots has been removed, certain text regarding Manipur has been left out, and changes have been made in reference to Jammu and Kashmir. All these issues have changed the course of politics in India, and hence our students, going to exercise their voting rights for the fist time must not be kept ignorant of these factors or injected certain bias or slant into their mind. Students have right to have neutral education, so that we may make them analytical and free of bias in their understanding.

NCERT has planned to publish updated textbooks soon. While giving rationale for revising the contents in the textbooks, it said, “Content is updated as per latest development in politics.”

In Class 12 political science textbook, there is a chapter titled “Recent Developments in Indian Politic”. In this Chapter 8, on page 139 the existing version reads, “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’.”

The changed version, according to NCERT, will now read, “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).”

In the same chapter on page 136, the current version reads “What is the legacy of the Ram Janambhoomi movement and the Ayodhya demolition for the nature of political mobilisation?’ Now the revised text will read ‘What is the legacy of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement?’

Text on Ayodhya issue has been thoroughly revised, the NCERT says, “because of the latest changes brought by Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench verdict and its widespread welcoming reception,” adding that the change is being made “to bring the initial questions in synchronisation with internal latest changes made in the chapter.”

Still, the decision of the dropping the reference to Babri Mosque demolition is questionable since giving no information amounts to keeping students ignorant about one of this most important information, that changed the course of contemporary politics in India.

In Chapter 5 of Class 11 political science textbook Democratic Politics – I, page 86, the current text reads, “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.” In the revised version, it has been changed to “Many cases of human rights violations in diverse fields are being brought to the public notice from across India.”

It is a serious matter of concern, since violation of human rights in the country has been on the increase and the country needs to sensitise its younger generation so that such violations stop. In place of improving the text, the new version deteriorated that may desensitize our students regarding human rights.

The clarification given by NCERT for such revision is not acceptable, which reads, “The news collage and content refer to an incident that is 20-years-old and has been resolved through the judicial process.” The change in Class 11 political science textbook titled “Political Theory”, chapter 8, title Secularism, page 112smacks communal Hindutva politics, since in the new version of the text the reference of Muslims killed in post-Godhra riots is removed.

“More than 1,000 persons, mostly Muslims, were massacred during the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat in 2002,” the existing version of the chapter read, while in the changed version it will read, “More than 1,000 persons were killed during the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat in 2002.” NCERT’s clarification for this change reads, “In any riots people across communities suffer. It cannot just be one community.”

Manipur has been in the limelight for about a year now for the continued ethnic violence under the double engine BJP governments in the state and the Centre. In Class 12, chapter 1, page 18, there is a passage, “The Government of India succeeded in pressurising 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.” It has now been changed to “The Government of India succeeded in persuading the Maharaja into signing a Merger Agreement in September 1949.”

The Chapter 7 titled “Regional Aspiration” of the same book refers the sensitive issue of border dispute between India and Pakistan. There is a passage on page 119 which reads, “India claims that this area is under illegal occupation. Pakistan describes this area as ‘Azad Pakistan’.” This passage has been changed to “However, it is the Indian territory which is under illegal occupation of Pakistan called as Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK).” On this change NCERT says it has been brought in complete concurrence with the latest stand of the government of India in regard to Jammu and Kashmir. If it is so, why should students not be informed about this?

NCERT must not hamper the quality of education to serve any political purpose of the ruling establishment. In the present case, BJP government led by PM Narendra Modi, and the politics of the RSS-BJP clan are getting the advantage. (IPA Service)