Mumbai: Textbook revisions see mixed response

Following the removal of Darwins theory of evolution and a chapter on the periodic table from Std X Science textbooks as part of its ldquorationalisationrdquo 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 changesWhat are the changesIn Chapter 5 titled Democratic Rights a reference to the Gujarat riots was removed from the caption to a news collage The earlier version mentioning ldquoMany cases of human rights violations in diverse fields for instance Gujarat riots are being brought to public notice from across Indiardquo was changed to ldquoMany cases of human rights violations in diverse fields are being brought to the publicrsquos attention from across IndiardquoIn 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 ldquoWhile most states have equal powers there are special provisions for some states like JampK and the states in the NorthEastrdquo The revised version includes an additional line However Article 370 which contains special provisions for JampK was abrogated in August 2019rdquoIn Chapter 8 the question ldquoWhat is the legacy of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and the Ayodhya demolition for the nature of political mobilisationrdquo has been modified to ldquoWhat is the legacy of the Ram Janmabhoomi movementrdquo These changes were detailed in a document prepared by the curriculum drafting committee of NCERT aiming to align references to topics with recent political developmentsIn Chapter 8 on secularism in the Std XI textbook a sentence ldquoMore than 1000 persons mostly Muslims were massacred during the postGodhra riots in Gujarat in 2002rdquo has been revised to ldquoMore than 1000 persons were killed during the postGodhra riots in Gujarat in 2002rdquo This change reflects the rationale that in any riot people across communities suffer and it cannot be attributed to just one communityOther changes include replacing the term ldquoAzad Pakistanrdquo with ldquoPakistanoccupied Jammu and Kashmir POJKrdquo and tweaking a paragraph defining the Left as those favouring ldquostate regulation over free competitionrdquo 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 FrameworkWhat experts sayA senior teacher from a junior college in south Mumbai said ldquoThese changes align with the Union governmentrsquos purported endeavour to saffronise academics and the education system NCERT books are used by CBSE schools only But this is just the beginningrdquo Manesh Kanojia educational activist said ldquoThey have just changed the way it is was mentioned earlier And I have not removed the references completely This generation is tech and AIsavvy They can look up everything on the internet and do research so I donrsquot think this is a major issue There are more important issues like lack of teachers students dropping out quality of school education etcrdquoCalling the changes inadequate and improper Deepak Pawar an academician and political analyst said ldquoUnderstanding 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 amp Kashmir and Ladakh advocating for statehood rather than Union territory status Itrsquos 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 adoptldquoWhen discussing human rights violations and communal violence in the country its essential to mention not only the Delhi riots of 1984 but also the Mumbai riots of 1992ndash93 and the Godhra riots of 2002 Including all these events completes the picture of the communalisation of the country Its essential to present multiple narratives responsibly If certain topics and references are deliberately omitted without considering these factors it undermines the integrity of the contentrdquo Pawar saidSanjay Patil a Mumbai based researcher and an expert in urban politics and elections said ldquoThis 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 Indiardquo2002Year Gujarat riots occurred2019Year Art 370 was abrogated