The deletion of history chapters by the NCERT has further exposed the communal agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)-led ruling dispensation at the Centre, Kerala State Higher Education Council vice chairman Rajan Gurukkal has said.
The removal of important chapters such as ‘King and Chronicles: the Mughal Courts’, industrial revolution, ‘Colonial Cities: Urbanisation, Planning and Architecture’, Emergency, 2002 Gujarat riots, Cold War; the deletion of the mention of the Hindu extremists’ role in Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination and the ban imposed on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS); and the suppression of the topics of Nathuram Godse have infuriated historians across the country. Such moves ran counter to the spirit of the Indian Constitution and secular culture, Prof. Gurukkal said in a statement.
‘Rescind changes’
“Textbooks must help young minds imbibe secular historical consciousness which is the central tenet of a pluralist democracy. Arbitrary deletions of chapters and passages from textbooks upset the sequential order and divest the students of the sense of continuity and intelligibility of the subject matter. Further, foreclosing the possibility of critical thinking could perpetuate their misconceptions and qualms. Higher secondary teachers must join hands with critical social scientists all over the country and demand for rescinding the additions and deletions arbitrarily imposed by the NCERT on the textbooks,” the academic added.