Statement by Concerned Historians on the Recent Changes Made by the NCERT in School Textbooks
Date: 07 April 2023
The recent decision of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to drop entire chapters from the history textbooks for class 12, as well as from other classes and to delete statements from other textbooks is a matter of deep concern. Using the period of the pandemic-cum-lockdowns to argue that there was a need to lighten the load of the curriculum, the NCERT initiated a contentious process of dropping topics like the history of the Mughal courts, the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, the Emergency, mention of Dalit writers, the Naxalite movement, and the fight for equality from social science, history, and political science textbooks of classes 6 to 12. The new editions of these NCERT books have simply made the deletions the norm even when we are in a post-pandemic context in which school education has limped back to normalcy and is no longer in the online mode.
In this light, it is deeply troubling that a chapter on the Mughals has been deleted from part-II of the history textbook for class 12, while two chapters on modern Indian history have been removed from part-III of the history textbook. There has been no attempt to consult members of the teams that had prepared the textbooks, which included historians and school teachers, apart from members of the NCERT. The books were developed through a process of consultation and wide-ranging discussions. This was valuable not only in terms of content, but also in terms of pedagogy, which ensured an organic unity and a graded development in understanding from the middle to the senior school. The attempt was also to make the textbooks as inclusive as possible, and to provide a sense of the rich diversity of the human past both within the subcontinent and the wider world. As such, removing chapters / sections of chapters is highly problematic not only in terms of depriving learners of valuable content, but also in terms of the pedagogical values required to equip them to meet present and future challenges. While we understand the need for periodic revisions of school textbooks, this can only be done in sync with the consensus of existing historical scholarship. However, the selective deletion in this round of textbook revision reflects the sway of divisive politics over pedagogic concerns.
According to the Director, NCERT, the deletions are part of the rationalisation of the school textbooks, and have been done in order to reduce the burden on students. As per the NCERT, during the pandemic the students faced loss in learning, and in the post-pandemic period the students have been feeling overburdened with the syllabus. According to the NCERT, since some of the chapters were overlapping across subjects and classes, it was rational to reduce the content for the overburdened students. The NCERT authorities have denied any ulterior political motive behind this move of rationalisation.
However, notwithstanding the NCERT Director’s denial, the selective dropping of NCERT book chapters which do not fit into the larger ideological orientation of the present ruling dispensation exposes the non-academic, partisan agenda of the regime in pushing through amendments to school textbooks. This becomes abundantly clear when one critically analyses the removal of selective themes in the textbooks in the backdrop of the present central government’s larger ideological agenda of misconstruing the history of the people of the Indian subcontinent as a product of a hegemonic singular (Hindu) tradition.
Driven by such an agenda, the chapter titled ‘Kings and Chronicles: The Mughal Courts (c. sixteenth-seventeenth centuries) has been deleted from part-II of the history textbook. This is despite the fact that the Mughals ruled several parts of the subcontinent for a substantial period; making the history of these times an inseparable part of the subcontinent’s history. In medieval times, the Mughal empire and the Vijayanagara empire were two of the most important empires in the Indian subcontinent, both of which were discussed in the previous textbooks. In the revised version, while the chapter on the Mughals has been deleted, the chapter on the Vijayanagara Empire has been retained. The exclusion exposes the wider communal undertones, based on an inaccurate assumption about India’s past — that the religion of the rulers was the dominant religion of the times. This leads to the deeply problematic idea of a ‘Hindu’ era, ‘Muslim’ era, etc. These categories are uncritically imposed on what has historically been a very diverse social fabric.
Moreover, two very important chapters have been deleted from part-III on Modern India, namely, ‘Colonial Cities: Urbanisation, Planning and Architecture’ and ‘Understanding Partition: Politics, Memories, Experiences’. Also significant is the deletion of any mention of the role of Hindu extremists in the killing of Gandhi. For example, in the chapter titled ‘Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement’ in part-III of the history textbook the reference to Nathuram Godse being “the editor of an extremist Hindu newspaper” has been expunged.
It is important to stress that the present retrograde step by the NCERT to delete entire chapters and portions of texts from the history textbooks is not based on any academic or pedagogic consideration. Rather, the chapters deleted from the history textbook are precisely those which do not fit into the pseudo-historical schema of the ruling dispensation. Excising any period from the study of the past would make students unable to comprehend the connecting thread of the past with the present times, and would deprive students of an opportunity to connect, compare and contrast the past and the present, and would disrupt the organic inter-connectedness of the subject-matter of the discipline. Furthermore, removing entire periods of history from history textbooks would not only perpetuate misconceptions and misunderstandings, but would serve to further the divisive communal and casteist agenda of the ruling elites. The books and history syllabi designed earlier by the NCERT were meant to provide an understanding of the Indian subcontinent as a great melting pot of different cultures consisting of various groups, ethnicities, etc. The sequence of the chapters was designed to teach students about the craft of history, and to develop critical thinking about the past. The composite heritage of the Indian subcontinent and historical genealogies of the present times were the main focus of the old NCERT syllabus from which chapters have now been strategically excised.
Apart from deletions in the history textbook of class 12, there are several deletions from the history textbook of class 11, which includes very essential themes like the industrial revolution, inter alia. There are also deletions from the textbook for political science, which includes sections on the rise of popular movements, the 2002 Gujarat Riots, and the mention of the report of the National Human Rights Commission. Similarly, the reference to the 2002 Gujarat Riots has been dropped from the Class 11 sociology textbook ‘Understanding Society’.
Guided by a divisive and partisan agenda, the NCERT by selectively deleting several important themes from school textbooks is not only doing great disservice to the composite heritage of the Indian subcontinent, but betraying the aspirations of the Indian masses. The colonial constructions and their contemporaneous reproduction manifest the misconstruing of Indian civilization as a product of a hegemonic singular tradition, such that categories like ‘Hindu society’ are uncritically imposed on what has historically been a very diverse social fabric. Ultimately, all these deletions present the students with a sanitized history of a homogenous ‘Hindu’ society in the Indian subcontinent. History of this variety has a disturbing preoccupation with the narrative surrounding kings and the wars they waged. It reduces state formations, empire-building, and transformations of the medieval period to an unsubstantiated, perennial contest between an allegedly homogenous ‘Hindu’ society and ‘Islamic’ invaders and rulers. It also projects the idea of presumably widespread social harmony in India’s past which conceals the exploitation and oppression of populations under different state formations along the axes of gender, caste, and class etc. It also overlooks regional diversity. By reducing the study of history to such monolithic accounts, the ground is being prepared for pseudo-histories, especially of a communal and casteist variety, to hold sway. In any case, such ‘histories’ are widely circulated today through WhatsApp and other social media applications.
We are appalled by the decision of the NCERT to remove chapters and statements from the history textbooks, and demand that the deletions from the textbooks should be immediately withdrawn. The decision of the NCERT is guided by divisive motives. It is a decision which goes against the constitutional ethos and composite culture of the Indian subcontinent. As such, it must be rescinded at the earliest.
(Statement signed by more than 250 history professors. For full list, visit Mainstream Weekly website. Courtesy: Mainstream Weekly.)
The Orwellian Revision of Textbooks
Rohan Banerjee
‘Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.’
― George Orwell, 1984.
In recent times, quoting George Orwell to comment on the prevailing socio-political scenario has reached the point of banality. As you scroll through your social media feed, you are bound to encounter bits and bobs of Animal Farm or 1984 littered across your timeline.
The ubiquity of Orwell’s well-worn words often dulls their impact but if we allow ourselves to stay with them for a moment – engage with the ideas they express – then soon enough, their astonishing prescience becomes evident. And you also begin to recognise that the dystopian and foreboding themes he explored in his works almost a century ago, have come to define the world we live in today. So much so, that our reality – typified by burgeoning authoritarianism, the shrinking space for dissent, and the reshaping of history – is best described by a term that is equal parts homage and warning: Orwellian.
The revision of social sciences textbooks by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is the latest example of such Orwellian ideals at play. A recent report in the Indian Express, delving into the edits made in the history, sociology and political science texts for students of Classes 6 to 12, made a number of worrying revelations. A paragraph in the Class 11 sociology book mentioning the Gujarat riots of 2002 in the context of communal violence and ‘ghettoisation’ was found to have been deleted, thereby, removing all references to the Gujarat riots from the NCERT social science textbooks.
Details surrounding Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, the dislike he invited from “Hindu extremists” for his “steadfast pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity”, and the banning of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the wake of Mahatma Gandhi’s death, have all been excised. Chapters pertaining to the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal empire have not (yet) been fully erased, but large chunks are reported to have been lopped off. And in a bizarre twist dripping with irony, the passages discussing the controversies surrounding the Emergency and abuse of state power have also been removed.
Although the updated textbooks have only been released now, the revisions had been proposed by the NCERT last year as part of a ‘rationalisation’ exercise. Indeed, the latest changes are a continuation of the overhaul of NCERT texts carried out in 2022, which had resulted in the deletion of references to caste-based discrimination and critique of sedition law, among other alterations. The intent, ostensibly, was to “lessen” the burden on students who had to re-orient themselves academically in the post-pandemic era. But it is difficult not to view the pruning of the NCERT textbooks as yet another attempt to suppress, or subvert, the past.
Earlier this year, the BBC released a two-part documentary on the Gujarat riots titled India: The Modi Question. The documentary was believed to have cast a “critical glare” at the prime minister (who was the chief minister of Gujarat at the time of the riots) and was derided by members of the ruling dispensation. The Assam Assembly even passed a resolution against the BBC for its “malicious and dangerous” agenda.
The government, in response, directed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to remove links to the documentary from YouTube and Twitter. A few days later, the offices of BBC India were “surveyed” by the income tax department, reportedly as part of an investigation pertaining to tax evasion.
While the controversy surrounding the BBC documentary was a fresh reminder of the authorities’ ability to muzzle any discourse on unsavoury events from the past, scholars have long bemoaned the increasing manipulation of historical figures to foment religious antagonism.
Centuries may have passed since their tryst with power but Mughal rulers – a convenient proxy for a religious minority – continue to remain in the cross hairs of Indian politicians. Time and again, incendiary statements are made to underline the notion of Mughal rule being “exploitative, barbaric”, and as having “harmed Indian civilisation and traditions.”
Historical dramas produced by Bollywood, like Padmaavat, only serve to reinforce these stereotypes, as they caricature the Muslim Sultan as a ravenous villain. From demands for changing names to removal of graves, politicians who claim to detest the Muslim rulers of yore, seem to keep finding ways to revive their memory in public consciousness.
Inevitably, political exigency has led to the spread of this insidious polemic from the heart of the erstwhile Mughal empire to all corners of the country. For instance, in the lead-up to the assembly elections in Karnataka, the rhetoric surrounding Tipu Sultan has been growing shriller. Once revered as a hero who fought valiantly against the British East India Company, he has of late been recast as a tyrant and a “mass murderer” of Hindus.
A nuanced discussion of Tipu (and other Muslim rulers) as being products of their times – who could resort to both political pragmatism and violence – has been made difficult in a climate where politicians raise wolfish cries asking their supporters to “send Tipu’s descendants back home”. But it is, at least, a discussion that is possible. When we begin to erase history altogether, we leave no room for any discussion at all.
Therefore, if school textbooks are being modified to present an amputated version of our past, it is the responsibility of civil society to ensure that what is deleted from the curriculum today, is not forgotten tomorrow. We owe a duty to the future generations of citizens to remember, to share our memories, to engage in dialogue, and to keep the public spirit of inquiry alive. For if we fail, the Orwellian may well become the norm.
(Rohan Banerjee is a lawyer in Mumbai. Courtesy: The Wire.)
