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NCERT has defended its decision to revise references to the Gujarat riots and the Babri Masjid demolition in school textbooks so as not to create ‘violent and depressed citizens’. Several changes have been made in the books recently – from not mentioning the Babri Masjid directly to cutting out the Ayodhya section. The National Council of Educational Research and Training is currently revising the syllabus of school textbooks in line with the National Education Policy.
NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani said, “Why should we teach about riots in school books? We want to create positive citizens, not violent and depressed individuals. Should we teach our students in such a way that they become aggressive, create hatred in society or become victims of hatred? Is this the aim of education? Should we teach such young children about riots…when they grow up, they can learn about it, but why in school books? Let them understand when they grow up what happened and why. The hue and cry about changes is meaningless.”
Meanwhile, the chief priest of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple, Satyendra Das Mahara has expressed dissatisfaction over the ‘incomplete’ portrayal of the Ayodhya movement in textbooks.
The revised Class 12 political science textbook does not mention the Babri Masjid, instead referring to it as a “three-domed structure”. It has reduced the Ayodhya section from four to two pages and removed details from the earlier version. The textbook instead focuses on the Supreme Court verdict that paved the way for the construction of the Ram temple.
Saklani indicated that there was not much fuss about the removal of the 1984 riots from textbooks.
Topics recently removed from textbooks include: the BJP’s ‘rath yatra’ from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya; the role of kar sevaks; communal violence following the demolition of the Babri Masjid; President’s rule in BJP-ruled states; and the BJP’s “expression of regret over the Ayodhya events”.
He said, “If the Supreme Court has given a verdict in favour of Ram Mandir, Babri Masjid or Ram Janmabhoomi, should it not be included in our textbooks, what is the problem in that? We have included new updates. If we have built a new Parliament, shouldn’t our students know about it? It is our duty to include ancient events and recent developments.”
(with inputs from agencies)
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