Why NCERT removed chapters on Mughals from history syllabus. Explained
- The erased chapters are related to ‘Kings and Chronicles; the Mughal Courts (C. 16th and 17th centuries)’ from the book ‘Themes of Indian History-Part II’.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) had announced its decision to erase certain chapters on the Mughal Empire from class 12 history textbooks. This move of erasing Mughal history from syllabus attracted severe criticism from various faction of political arena.
Uttar Pradesh announced that government schools will adopt the NCERT's new class 12 history textbooks in which portions about Mughal courts have been removed from this academic session. As part of its "syllabus rationalisation" exercise last year, the NCERT, citing "overlapping" and "irrelevant" as reasons, dropped certain portions from the syllabus including lessons on Mughal courts from its class 12 textbooks.
Many of these changes were announced in early 2022 when the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) rationalised its syllabi in April. Besides schools under CBSE, some state boards also use NCERT textbooks.
Which chapters have been being removed?
The erased chapters are related to ‘Kings and Chronicles; the Mughal Courts (C. 16th and 17th centuries)’ from the book ‘Themes of Indian History-Part II’.
As per Jagran Josh report, from Class 11 syllabus, chapters like Central Islamic Lands, Confrontation of cultures, and The Industrial Revolution have been removed. Apart from this, from Class 12 civics book Politics in Indian since Independence, chapters like Rise of popular movements, ‘Era of one-party dominance’ have been removed.
In addition to this, from the class 10 Democratic Politics-II textbooks, chapters like ‘Democracy and diversity’, ‘Popular struggles and movement’, ‘Challenges to democracy’ have been removed.
As per IANS report, NCERT has also removed some paragraphs from Class 12 Political Science Textbooks pertaining to a brief ban imposed on RSS by the then government after Mahatma Gandhi's assassination. Also, paragraphs on Gandhi's quest for Hindu-Muslim unity provoked Hindu extremists also have been removed, a report by IANS stated.
What has NCERT has said on omitting chapters?
NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Saklani on Tuesday clarified that chapters on Mughals had not been 'dropped' from CBSE books, and said that its a "lie". "It's a lie. (Chapters on) Mughals have not been dropped. There was a rationalisation process last year because due to COVID, there was pressure on students everywhere," the NCERT director told ANI. The NCERT chief further said that expert committees examined the books from standards 6-12. "They recommended that if this chapter is dropped, it won't affect the knowledge of the children and an unnecessary burden can be removed...The debate is unnecessary. Those who don't know can check the textbooks...," Saklani said.
He said that even today students are studying the history of the Mughals in NCERT's class 7th book. "Along with this, the history of Mughals is being taught in Empires in section-2 of the 11th class book. And in the class 12th book there were 2 chapters on the history of the Mughals, out of which theme nine was removed last year, while theme eight is still being taught to the students. This year no chapter has been removed from any book," Saklani further said.
"We are working as per NEP (National Education Policy) 2020. This is a transition phase. NEP 2020 speaks of reducing the content load. We are implementing it. NCF (National Curriculum Framework) for school education is being formed, it will be finalised soon. Textbooks will be printed in 2024 as per NEP. We have not dropped anything right now," the NCERT chief said while stressing the National Education Policy.
What did the Opposition say on the attempt to change history syllabus?
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that the Centre is erasing the past by removing Mughal history from the NCERT syllabus while China is is erasing our present. He was referring to China renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh. "On one side, the Modi government is erasing the Mughals from NCERT syllabus, while on the other side, China, with whom PM Modi was shaking hands at G20 Indonesia meeting, is erasing our present," Owaisi told a press conference.
BJP leader Kapil Mishra lauded the move and alleged that ‘thieves’ were being referred to as the Mughal rulers, he said that the initiative will shine light on the ‘truth’.
Retweeting a video on the revised textbooks, he wrote, “It is a great decision to remove false history of Mughals from NCERT. Thieves, pickpockets and two-penny road raiders were called the Mughal Sultanate and the emperor of India. Akbar, Babar, Shahjahan, Aurangzeb are not in the history books, they are in the dustbin."
Congress's general secretary in-charge for Jharkhand Avinash Pandey alleged that the decision to drop lessons on Mughal courts from the NCERT books is an attempt to change the nation's history. Hitting out at Centre, Pandey said democracy is under threat in the country.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal has attacked the government and said that consistent with PM Modi's India, modern Indian history should start from 2014. In a tweet, Sibal said, "NCERT textbooks: Effaced: 1) Gandhi's pursuit of Hindu Muslim unity 2) Banning of RSS 3) All references to Gujarat riots 4) Protests that turned into social movements in contemporary India."
"Consistent with Modi ji's Bharat modern Indian history should start from 2014…," the former Union minister said. The BJP government came to power in 2014.
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
MoreLess
First Published:5 Apr 2023, 01:52 PM IST
- Top Gainers
- Top Losers
- 52 Week High