BENGALURU: Chapters on the Mughal Empire, central Islamic lands, democracy and diversity, among others, have been dropped in the revised National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) history books for Classes 6-12.
With allegations of the right-wing ideology behind the move, NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Sakhlani has said the revisions were made to reduce chances of overlapping and were not because of any ideological reasons.
NCERT released the list of rationalised content for Class 6 to 12, a decision taken in 2022, post the Covid-19 pandemic. The changes will come into effect from the next academic year for students studying under the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) as well as state syllabus schools that follow the NCERT syllabus.
With the list of rationalised content posted, the issue has caused controversy as chapters and content on the Mughal Empire, Dalit writers, and democracy, among others, have been removed completely. Several prominent figures have criticised the rationalisation of the textbooks, alleging that it was being done to erase the influence of the Mughal Empire in India.
Communal rewriting: Yechury
Former General Secretary of CPI(M) Sitaram Yechury called the revisions a communal rewriting of history. “Communal rewriting of history intensifies. NCERT revises Class XII history book removing chapters on the Mughal empire. The lands of India have always been the churning crucible of civilisational advances through cultural confluences,” he said.
However, Sakhlani said, “It’s a false and baseless allegation. The process of rationalisation took place last year in view of the pandemic. It was to reduce pressure on the students as there were concerns on how they would study the complete syllabus. There was a general consensus that we should reduce the content and course load to help students, which is why NCERT took up the process of rationalisation.”
Meanwhile, developmental educationist VP Niranjanaradhya told TNIE that history is a science, and needs to be presented in an objective manner, with proof and evidence. “NCERT has been doing this for decades since Independence, however, these changes are the agenda of the right-wing,” he said.