History is the raw material for nationalist or ethnic or fundamentalist ideologies, as poppies are the raw material for heroin addiction. The past is an essential element, perhaps the essential element, in these ideologies. If there is no suitable past, it can always be invented. – E.J. Hobsbawm (History and nationalism)
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has recently implemented significant revisions to textbooks for Classes 6 to 12 as part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. These revisions are a deliberate attempt to reshape historical narratives to serve the interests of the ruling BJP government. Education is an ideological tool to shape the consciousness of the masses. The NCERT revisions reflect a concerted effort to create a narrative that vilifies Muslims and glorifies a monolithic, Hindu-centric national identity.
Lies, Half-truths and Misinterpretation of the Past
The NCERT class 8 history book has been released, and the book is full of lies, half-truths, and communal hatred. Some examples,
– The book claims the ‘Jizya tax’ was imposed on non-Muslims to encourage them to convert to Islam to avoid paying it. (NCERT says this without citing any source, no such interpretation exists in any source.)
– NCERT claims Mughal Emperor Akbar abolished Jizya, but it was abolished in the later period of his reign. (Akbar fully assumed the throne in 1560 CE, and one of his early decisions was to abolish Jizya in 1563-64 CE because he saw it as a tax promoting religious discrimination).
These are only a few examples, there are many other wrong facts in the book. Apart from lies, there are half-truths and misinterpretations also. The NCERT book portrays the Mughals as brutal rulers because they fought wars and killed people. It labels Akbar brutal based on the killings during the Siege of Chittor. But hasn’t every king in Indian history done this? The Karanthai Prasasti inscription of Rajendra Chola boasts that he attacked the Chalukya capital, Manyakheta, burned the city, and killed many men and women. Another 1042 CE inscription celebrates Rajendra burning the cities of the Chalukya kingdom and destroying ancient Jain temples. When he defeated Mahinda V of Sinhala (modern Sri Lanka), he took Mahinda’s wife and daughter. Yet, NCERT’s class 7 book, which contains chapter on Cholas, does not mention these acts or call Chola kings brutal. Is NCERT trying to teach class 8 students that only Mughals were cruel because they were Muslims? Similarly, the class 8 book has a chapter on the Marathas but omits their brutality in Bengal and Mysore. When a newspaper asked NCERT’s Social Science curriculum Group Head, Michael Dininno, why the Maratha atrocities in Bengal were omitted, he said they did not want to burden children unnecessarily. It appears that only studying about atrocities of Hindu kings burdens children, the atrocities by the Mughals are not. Despite India’s long history of temple destruction (e.g., by Harsha (11th Century) in Kashmir), NCERT discusses it only in the context of Sultans and Mughals, as if no king before them destroyed temples. There are similar lies in NCERT’s Class 11 and 12 history books, which were released earlier.
NCERT has not only changed the history books, but also other subjects. The chapters on Evolution (9th-10th), Periodic Table (10th), Weather, Climate. & Adaptations of Animals (7th), Pollution of Air and Water (8th), Environmental issues (12th), and portions of Class 9 and Class 10 chapters on climate, ecosystem, forest, and wildlife resources, have been deleted. Apart from that, pseudoscience like variolation and, medicinal properties of bronze, etc. have been added Similarly the chapters on Babri Masjid, Gujarat riots, Emergency, Gandhi assassination were removed from the class 12th political science book, and chapters on democracy challenges, social movements, diversity, etc. are removed.
Revival of Colonial History
This idea that Indian history can be studied by dividing it into Hindu and Muslim periods was first introduced by the British to divide the Indian society, which was challenged post-independence with fact-based and archaeological research. Now, NCERT is reviving the British poison of ‘Muslim kings bad, Hindu kings good’. It is clear that NCERT is doing this with a communal agenda, portraying only Mughals and Sultans as cruel temple-destroyers and invaders. But why? Currently, all the positions in NCERT are filled by RSS members or people affiliated with RSS, who are involved in the preparation of textbooks. Some academicians said that the delay in the new class 5th and 8th books were because of many layers of scrutiny by RSS. This answers why NCERT is revising textbooks and propagating these lies. The current textbook changes mark a stark departure from the vision of inclusivity, critical pedagogy, and democratic values. What we are witnessing now is a deliberate project of saffronisation. The NCERT’s history textbooks are a tool for hiding facts, spreading lies, and promoting communalism to make children believe only Muslim rulers were evil. NCERT’s books are no longer just books, but a weapon to spread false, incomplete history and religious discord.
