NEW DELHI: A panel set up for revising NCERT textbooks has recommended that ‘India’ be replaced with ‘Bharat’ in all social science textbooks up to Class 12. Chairperson of the committee, C I Issac, told this newspaper that the panel has also suggested replacing ‘ancient history’ with ‘classical history’ and introducing the Indian Knowledge System in the syllabus for all subjects. The panel has also suggested highlighting ‘Hindu victories’ in textbooks, evoking sharp reactions from Opposition paries.
“It was a unanimous decision to replace the name ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’ in the textbooks for students across classes,” said Issac, who heads the seven-member social science committee. He added that the recommendations have been shared with the education ministry. However, NCERT chairman Dinesh Saklani said no decision has been taken on the panel’s recommendations.
‘Bharat’ was officially used for the first time when the Centre sent out G20 invites in the name of ‘President of Bharat’ instead of ‘President of India’. Later, the nameplate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 summit also read as Bharat instead of India. On highlighting ‘Hindu victories’, Issac said: “Our failures are mentioned in the textbooks. But our victories over the Mughals and sultans are not.”
The NCERT is revising the curriculum of the school textbooks in line with the National Education Policy. It recently constituted a 19-member National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee to finalise the curriculum, textbooks and learning material. The panel chaired by Issac is among the 25 committees formed by NCERT in December 2021 to prepare position papers on various subjects.
Opposition parties panned the move. Congress leader K C Venugopal said: “You can see how they are distorting the history of India through the textbook, syllabus...For us, India and Bharat are equal.”
DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai said: “The BJP is resorting to name-change politics to divert the attention of people from its misdeeds.”
Over to education ministry