Historians ‘appalled’ by NCERT trying to make history textbooks ‘one-sided’
2 min read . Updated: 09 Apr 2023, 08:12 AM IST
PremiumThe historians argued that restricting history education to a narrow perspective could result in the dissemination of fabricated histories, especially those that have communal and caste-based biases.
Historians have expressed dismay over the decision by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to remove certain chapters from history textbooks for Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) students. The NCERT's move to remove sections on the Mughal Empire from class 12 history books has attracted widespread criticism.
Specifically, chapters on 'Kings and Chronicles; the Mughal Courts (C. 16th and 17th centuries)' from the book 'Themes of Indian History-Part II' and the topics of Central Islamic Lands, Confrontation of cultures, and The Industrial Revolution have been removed from the Class 11 syllabus.
From the Class 12 Civics book Politics in Indian since Independence, the chapters 'Rise of popular movements' and 'Era of one-party dominance' have been erased. Chapters such as Democracy and diversity, Popular struggles and movement, and Challenges to democracy have been removed from class 10 Democratic Politics-II textbooks.
In a statement, a group of historians, including Romila Thapar, Jayati Gosh, Mridula Mukherjee, Apoorvanada, Irfan Habib, and Upinder Singh, said they were "appalled" by the NCERT's decision, particularly for class 12, and called it "a matter of deep concern."
They alleged that the NCERT had initiated a contentious process of dropping topics like the history of the Mughal courts, the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, the Emergency, from social science, history and political science textbooks of classes 6 to 12.
According to the historians, if the study of history is limited to one-sided accounts, it could lead to the promotion of false histories, particularly those with communal and casteist undertones.
The NCERT, which is the top advisory body for the centre and state on school education, has denied allegations of suppressing historical facts. The council has stated that the move is a professional exercise meant to help students hit by the pandemic and has no ulterior political motive.
However, the historians have pointed out that the NCERT's new editions of books have made the deletions the norm, even when schools have resumed normalcy post-pandemic. The historians have also expressed concern that such deletions could lead to the proliferation of pseudo-histories through social media platforms like WhatsApp.
It remains to be seen how the NCERT will respond to the criticism, given that it has already made the changes. Students who have already been taught the deleted portions may now find themselves at a disadvantage compared to future batches. The removal of certain topics from history textbooks is likely to continue to generate controversy in India, where history has been a contentious topic for decades.