The NCERT has removed certain paragraphs from the Class 12 political science book, Those facts pertain to Gandhi’s killing and the perpetrators of that act who were Hindu fundamentalists. Nathuram Godse who pulled the trigger on Gandhi has RSS links although the Sangh vehemently denies that. Ever since the BJP came to power in 2014 efforts have been made to whitewash parts of history on the plea that students should pay more attention to nationalism and patriotism than learn about the Mughal invaders and later the British which are considered blots in India’s glorious ancient past.
On the controversy surrounding the content related to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination being dropped from its textbooks without any notification, NCERT chief Dinesh Saklani said it could have been an “oversight” that some deletions were not announced in its rationalisation exercise last year. That such oversights can happen while dealing with a fact of history raises questions about the purpose of such text books. Are they meant to obfuscate a fact of history that the BJP-RSS considers a blot on its past or are they meant to enlighten the students and to allow them to do further research on the topic, should they choose to? Why should education be enslaved to a political ideology?
Apart from changes made in Class 12 books, NCERT has made some changes in Class 10 and 11 books also. Chapters such as Democracy and Diversity, Challenges of Democracy, and Popular Struggles and Movements have been removed from the Class 10 – Democratic Politics-2 textbook. Also, chapters like Central Islamic Lands, Industrial Revolution and Clash of Cultures have been dropped from the Class 11 textbook titled – Themes in World History. Evidently the BJP wants to infuse a new thinking in the youth and also to erase that part of history which gives credit to the Indian National Congress as the forerunner of the freedom movement. The BJP has spared no pains to blame Nehru for policies adopted post- independence. This is purely politics. Why should politics intrude into the realm of education?
The NCERT has meanwhile stated that allegations about its decision to drop chapters on Mughal history was merely to rationalise the text books so as not to unnecessarily burden the students with chapters that can be glossed over since they had a lot of catching up to do after the Covid-19 pandemic.
There is no argument that a constant vigil is needed to keep track of what actually needs to be retained, dropped or added to the curriculum in keeping with the rapidly changing times. For instance, climate change has become imperative for students to understand and act on. Adding chapters and content that challenge the learners and empowers them with tools to meet contemporary challenges is the crux of education. However, deletion of chapters from history and political science books requires more consultation and cannot be done at the behest of the NCERT which is seen to be largely influenced by the government of the day. Education must remain untainted by political influences of all shades.
