NCERT forced to replace 37 objectionable passages in history textbooks

In its response to the petition filed by Shri Dinanath Batra and others of
Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti before the Delhi High Court, the National
Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has clarified in the
court that out of the total 70 objectionable passages, mentioned by the
petitioner in his petition, 37 have been replaced in accordance with the new
curricula. The counsel said the discussion over the deletion or modification
of four other passages was going on. He however added that no change was
required in respect of the other 29 passages. The court has directed the
NCERT to identity the 37 replaced passages in an affidavit. Next hearing of
the case will be held on July 26.

This development followed the comments of a three-member committee
comprising professors of history, J.S. Grewal, K.N. Panikar and Nayanjyot
Lahiri. While these experts have upheld views in respect to certain
historical precedents, they have not shied away from doing away with certain
portions. For example, on the objection raised over a paragraph mentioning
beef eating in a class VI history textbook Ancient India, authored by Romila
Thapar, the experts have upheld the practice of beef eating to be widely
prevalent in early India.

In response to another objection raised over the ‘homeland of Aryans’ raised
in a textbook, authored by R.S. Sharma, the experts are of the view that the
homeland of the Aryans was a very ‘vexed question’. ?Considering that this
is a highly politicised and controversial question, it would be desirable
for textbooks to make this evident,? the committee noted. Of certain
passages that shall face deletion, one of the paragraph figures in class XII
textbook, Modern India by Bipan Chandra. In a reference to Maharaja Ranjit
Singh, it was mentioned in one of the paragraphs, ?While a devout Sikh, he
(Ranjit Singh) was known to step down from his throne to wipe out the dust
of Muslim mendicants with his long gray beard.? Following a note by NCERT,
this quotation shall now be deleted from the 2006 edition.