Mumbai: Textbook revisions see mixed response

National Council of Educational Research and Training officials have asserted that the tweaks are standard updates. Representation Pic

Following the removal of Darwin's theory of evolution and a chapter on the periodic table from Std X Science textbooks as part of its "rationalisation" exercise last year, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has introduced a new round of revisions in school textbooks. References to the demolition of Babri Masjid and the Gujarat riots have been omitted from Std XI and XII textbooks. Educationists have expressed mixed reactions to the changes.

What are the changes?

In Chapter 5, titled Democratic Rights, a reference to the Gujarat riots was removed from the caption to a news collage. The earlier version mentioning, "Many cases of human rights violations in diverse fields, for instance, Gujarat riots, are being brought to public notice from across India," was changed to "Many cases of human rights violations in diverse fields are being brought to the public's attention from across India".

In Chapter 7 of the Political Science textbook for XII, NCERT has revised a paragraph to include a reference to the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted special status to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir. The previous paragraph stated, "While most states have equal powers, there are special provisions for some states like J&K and the states in the North-East". The revised version includes an additional line: "However, Article 370, which contains special provisions for J&K, was abrogated in August 2019".

In Chapter 8, the question "What is the legacy of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and the Ayodhya demolition for the nature of political mobilisation?" has been modified to "What is the legacy of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement?" These changes were detailed in a document prepared by the curriculum drafting committee of NCERT, aiming to align references to topics with recent political developments.

In Chapter 8, on secularism, in the Std XI textbook, a sentence, "More than 1,000 persons, mostly Muslims, were massacred during the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat in 2002", has been revised to "More than 1,000 persons were killed during the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat in 2002". This change reflects the rationale that in any riot, people across communities suffer, and it cannot be attributed to just one community.

Other changes include replacing the term "Azad Pakistan" with "Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK)" and tweaking a paragraph defining the Left as those favouring "state regulation over free competition". NCERT officials declined to comment on the topics being dropped, asserting that the tweaks are standard updates and not specifically tied to the development of new books under the New Curriculum Framework.

What experts say

A senior teacher from a junior college in south Mumbai said, "These changes align with the Union government's purported endeavour to saffronise academics and the education system. NCERT books are used by CBSE schools only. But this is just the beginning." Manesh Kanojia, educational activist, said, "They have just changed the way it is was mentioned earlier. And I have not removed the references completely. This generation is tech and AI-savvy. They can look up everything on the internet and do research, so I don't think this is a major issue. There are more important issues, like lack of teachers, students dropping out, quality of school education, etc."

Calling the changes inadequate and improper, Deepak Pawar, an academician and political analyst, said, "Understanding history must be comprehensive, encompassing various perspectives. Therefore, when a textbook discusses events such as the Ram Janmabhoomi, it is inadequate and improper, not to mention the Babri Masjid demolition. Likewise, if NCERT includes the abrogation of Article 370, they should also cover the movements in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh advocating for statehood rather than Union territory status. It's crucial to include parallel aspects to provide a holistic understanding of the topic. This is particularly significant because people and other educational boards view NCERT textbooks as exemplars, observing the pedagogical approaches they adopt.

"When discussing human rights violations and communal violence in the country, it's essential to mention not only the Delhi riots of 1984 but also the Mumbai riots of 1992-93 and the Godhra riots of 2002. Including all these events completes the picture of the communalisation of the country. It's essential to present multiple narratives responsibly. If certain topics and references are deliberately omitted without considering these factors, it undermines the integrity of the content," Pawar said.

Sanjay Patil, a Mumbai based researcher and an expert in urban politics and elections said: "This seems to be an extension of the saffronisation agenda that we are seeing creep into academics particularly over the last few years. By deleting certain crucial references which are critical of a certain party and dispensation, the government is facilitating an interference of politics in academics and education system. This will be detrimental not just for the future generations who may not know certain parts of the deleted history but will also be a bad precedent for a democracy like India."

2002
Year Gujarat riots occurred

2019
Year Art 370 was abrogated