Sikh history reorganised for ease of learning: CM Amarinder Singh

CHANDIGARH: Even as the controversy over the alleged deletion of a portion of Sikh history from text books refuses to die down, CM Amarinder Singh on Monday claimed that the chapters had been organized in a more cohesive format for easy learning in Classes XI and XII.

Accusing SAD and AAP of making vile allegations, Amarinder said that it was during the Akalis regime in 2014, when the decision to realign the courses with the NCERT syllabus was taken. Further, the SGPC was party to all discussions on the issue since his government took over in last year, he said.

“It was on January 9, 2014, that an expert committee was proposed to be set up to discuss the issue of realignment and to finalize history syllabus from Classes IX to XII,” said the CM, adding, “The subject was discussed by the committee over a series of meetings held thereafter with inputs taken from the director (assistant professor, NCERT)”.

“The syllabus thus finalized was uploaded on the board’s website in March 2014. The SGPC had then objected to the syllabus finalized for Class IX in 2015, while there was no consensus achieved over the courses for other classes. Eventually, after re-doing the syllabus, the books for Classes IX and X were published by the board in 2016 and those of Classes XI and XII were decided to be published in 2018,” he added.

Amarinder claimed that soon after taking over the state’s reins, his government had written to the SGPC in March 2017 for discussion on the issue of the history course realignment, given the sensitive nature of the subject. In response, the SGPC had deputed Prof Paramveer Singh of Panjabi University, Patiala, who attended all meetings held to deliberate on the matter, said Amarinder while flaying SGPC chief Gobind Singh Longowal for deliberately “hiding the real facts on the issue for the sake of promoting his vested political ambitions”.

He said the Class XI history book, which the opposition was citing and quoting in support of their allegations, had not even been printed yet.

Meanwhile, for the first time, the state government has tasked the Punjab State Education Board (PSEB) with printing of the books.