The NCERT textbooks are at the core of yet another political dispute, this time on allegations that the current administration has changed the history that is taught in schools.
The evolution of textbooks into a battleground for opposing beliefs can be attributed to a variety of factors, including cultural and societal changes, political ideologies, and advancements in technology and education.
Political ideologies can also play a role in shaping the content of textbooks. Governments may seek to promote certain ideologies or agendas through education, and this can lead to debates over what should be included in textbooks.
Additionally, publishers may be influenced by political pressure or financial incentives when deciding what to include in their textbooks.
Advancements in technology and education have also played a role in the evolution of textbooks. With the rise of digital media, publishers are now able to create and distribute textbooks more easily and quickly than ever before.
This has led to an increase in the number of textbooks available, and a corresponding increase in competition among publishers to produce textbooks that appeal to different audiences.
NCERT textbooks have had a history of controversy since their evolution into a platform for political discourse used by the government and a battleground for opposing ideas.
The most recent controversy surrounding textbooks is likely a result of a combination of these factors, as well as the ongoing debates over issues such as critical race theory, gender identity, and the role of government in education.
These debates have led to disagreements over what should be included in textbooks and how certain topics should be presented, and have sparked intense discussions and even legal battles in some cases.
For students in Classes 6 through 12, NCERT has made three rounds of significant modifications to its textbooks over the past six years, focusing mostly on history, political science, and sociology.
Political parties have aimed to influence what students read for a variety of reasons, and BJP governments are not the only ones to change the content of textbooks.
The initial round was referred to as a "review" rather than a revision in 2017.
The groundbreaking Goods and Services Tax (GST) legislation, among other recent events and changes, was to be included in the updated textbooks, according to Hrishikesh Senapaty, then-chief of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
The review made by the BJP-led government and right-wing advocates led to 1,334 changes across 182 books, including new references to Narendra Modi's government programs.
More ancient Indian knowledge and practices, and a focus on nationalist figures who had been overlooked in the nation's collective memory have also been added to the textbooks.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training, or NCERT, has removed key passages from its Class 12 history textbook that discuss Mahatma Gandhi and how his efforts to promote Hindu-Muslim cooperation "provoked Hindu extremists."
Congress has accused BJP of "whitewashing" and "distorting" history as a result of the omissions, which have sparked a political uproar.
Passages such as "Gandhiji's death had a magical effect on the communal situation in the country," "Gandhi's pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity provoked Hindu extremists," and "organizations like the RSS were banned for some time" were among those removed from the textbook.
The Class 11 sociology textbook's references to the Gujarat riots have also been eliminated by the organisation responsible for publishing texts used in the CBSE curriculum. After removing the section from two of its Class 12 textbooks, NCERT did this a few months later.
The NCERT began a second wave of adjustments, known as "textbook rationalisation," just one year later, in 2018, at the behest of Prakash Javadekar, who was then the education minister.
This was done in order to reduce the "syllabus burden" on students. Javadekar declared plans to cut content by half across all disciplines since NCERT textbooks were "cramped," in his words.
One chapter on clothes and how social movements affected how we dressed, as well as one on the history of cricket in India and its connection to caste, region, and community politics, were removed from history textbooks.
The third phase of textbook rationalisation was announced by the NCERT less than three years later.
This most recent effort aimed to further lighten the curriculum and aid pupils in making up for the disturbances to their study that the Covid-19 outbreak produced.
The NCERT published a list of additions and deletions to the recently released reprinted textbooks in June 2022.
Since the NDA government took office, the latest wave of textbook rationalisation has led to some of the most significant modifications in the curriculum.
The revisions include trimming material on the caste system and the Mughal Empire and skipping chapters on social movements and protests.
In the end, the Council managed to slash 20%, mostly from social science texts, while limiting cuts to maths and science. Several chapters were dropped as a result of this process.
Many of these modifications are regarded as being "political," and the government is under fire for allegedly using the rationalisation process to align the curriculum with the BJP's philosophy and exert control over what students are taught in class.
The alterations have been justified by the government and the BJP, but the opposition believes they are an attempt to "erase history.”
Despite the omission of certain material on the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire from history textbooks, the Mughals have not completely vanished.
A few of the adjustments seem to reflect the same opinions as those of the ruling class. Therefore, the literature on India's Muslim rulers has suffered some of the harshest cutbacks in the rationalisation procedure.
The revised Indian history textbook also includes new chapters and topics that focus on marginalised communities and their contributions to Indian history.
It includes chapters on the history of the LGBTQ+ community in India, the contributions of Dalits and Adivasis to Indian society, and the role of women in Indian history.
They have new chapters and topics focussing on marginalised communities and their contributions to Indian history.
It has more nuanced and complex discussions of India's colonial past, including the impact of British colonialism on Indian society and the Indian independence movement.
In the section on "The Mughal Empire" of the Our Pasts - II history book, a two-page table listing the accomplishments of the reigns of the emperors Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb has been left out.
BJP leaders have been claiming that mediaeval Muslim invaders have been glorified at the expense of others in conventional Indian history writing.
The chapter itself has not been deleted, though. Class 7 students will continue to study the Mughals but in less depth.
These textbooks also drew criticism for depicting the Muslim rulers of India as barbaric invaders and the mediaeval period as a gloomy time of Islamic dominance that cast a shadow over the brilliance of earlier Hindu empires.
The first set of these textbooks was drafted when the first NDA government (led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee) was in office in 2002–2003.
The UPA-I administration quickly abandoned these textbooks after taking office in 2004.
The curriculum was modified independently by the UPA administration. In 2012, cartoons of Jawaharlal Nehru and B. R. Ambedkar that were deemed disrespectful to them were removed from political science textbooks.
Two NCERT advisors, Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palshikar, quit when the decision was criticised by academics.
According to Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje, Congress is the "biggest manipulator" of India's historical realities, and the BJP is simply correcting the "wrongdoings" of the past. She defended the decision to strike these and other references from textbooks.
Chandrashekhar Bawankule, the BJP's chairman in Maharashtra, claimed that "negative content" had been purposefully included in some history textbooks and that it needed to be removed.
He argued that facts do not need to be changed, despite some "negative descriptions" in the textbooks.
"Some people have purposefully included derogatory information in our history books. It must be taken out. Our nation is advancing, and growing, and will soon surpass all others in importance. The negative stuff is unnecessary, he said
On the other side, the claims made by the BJP government in support of the changes don't seem to have persuaded the opposition.
Mallikarjun Kharge, the head of the Congress, criticised the BJP and the RSS for the alterations, claiming that no matter how hard they try, they cannot undo history.
"Changes can be made to textbooks, but national history cannot be altered. The BJP-RSS is making an attempt, and he remarked that no matter how hard they try, they will not be able to change the past.
Whitewashing with fury, Jairam Ramesh, general secretary of the Congress, tweeted. He also tweeted a news article on the adjustments.
Manish Tewari told reporters at the Congress headquarters in Delhi that the RSS and the BJP had been engaged in an "ongoing endeavour" to rewrite history.
From NCERT’s perspective, it has taken steps to revise the Indian history textbook to reflect a more inclusive and critical perspective of India's diverse cultural, social, and political history.
These textbooks are used by applicants preparing for competitive exams including the Civil Services Examination, SSC, JEE, and NEET, in addition to school students.
With more than 5 crore students in 18 states using NCERT textbooks, political parties view them as a sizable captive audience with receptive minds.
Through the advancements in India’s education system, it can be concluded that school textbooks will play an important role in shaping national narratives and promoting a desired sense of national identity.
It’s often that the members of a society have differing opinions on what should be included in textbooks which can lead to disagreements and debates over the content.
But as societies change and evolve, so do the values and beliefs held by their members.
This has been reflected in the way textbooks are written and the information they contain with the aim to educate a nation's youth.
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