National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has removed references to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomy from its revised Class 11 political science textbook, according to a report on The Hindu. The decision was made as part of the organization’s effort to “rationalize” the school syllabus to compensate for time lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NCERT had previously reported on some of the omissions and deletions, including dropping content on the Mughals, the 2002 Gujarat riots from Class XII history books, and certain portions on Mahatma Gandhi. However, it had kept others, such as the removal of Azad’s reference and J&K’s autonomous status, under wraps.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was India’s first Education Minister, and his reference appeared in the first chapter, ‘Constitution — Why and How?’ of the old Class 11 NCERT political science textbook, ‘Indian Constitution at Work’. A paragraph in the chapter highlighted Azad’s significant contribution to India’s constitution drafting process. However, the revised textbook paragraph has omitted Azad’s reference, stating, ‘Usually, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel or B.R. Ambedkar chaired these Committees.’
Similarly, in the 10th chapter of the same textbook, titled “The Philosophy of the Constitution,” the reference to Jammu and Kashmir’s conditional accession has also been deleted. The paragraph about J&K mentioned in the old Class 11 NCERT political science textbook said, “For example, the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the Indian union was based on a commitment to safeguard its autonomy under Article 370 of the Constitution.” Article 370 was diluted, and the BJP-led Union government revoked J&K’s special status in August 2019. The state was also bifurcated into two Union Territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The removal of these references from the NCERT textbook has been met with controversy and criticism. Some experts have accused the NCERT of trying to change the narrative of India’s history by omitting significant facts and events. The NCERT director, Dinesh Saklani, denied allegations that certain portions about Mahatma Gandhi were surreptitiously deleted from Class 12 textbooks and called them a ‘possible oversight’ with no ‘ill intention’. He also stated that the changes would not be rolled back.
The NCERT has previously come under fire for dropping chapters on the Mughal empire, the 2002 Gujarat riots, and popular movements from the class 12 History book. Chapters titled ‘Central Islamic Lands,’ ‘Clash of Cultures,’ and ‘Industrial Revolution’ have also been removed from the Class 11 book Themes in World History. In the Class 12 political science textbook, pages on the topic ‘Gujarat Riots’ have been excluded from the chapter titled ‘Recent Developments in Indian Politics.’
The NCERT’s decision to remove certain references from its textbooks has raised concerns among educators and the general public about the possible implications for India’s education system. The controversy surrounding these omissions suggests that the NCERT needs to ensure that its revised syllabus does not exclude significant events and facts from India’s history.
(With inputs from The Hindu)
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