Freedom struggle heroes not incorrectly depicted in books: Govt

The matter came to light after the list of action taken on the report on reforms in content and design of school textbooks, which was tabled in the House in November 2021, was presented in the Rajya Sabha.

“The department (Education Ministry) in its reply has informed the committee that the present NCERT textbook of classes VIII, X and XII (Part III) have portrayed freedom fighters by adopting an event-oriented approach and they have not been depicted in an incorrect manner,” according to the report, which contains the response of the Department of School Education and Literacy and the NCERT.

This response was listed in the “observations/recommendations in respect of which replies of the government have not been accepted by the committee” section of the report.

The committee, in its response to the government’s stand, said, “The committee notes the position mentioned and is of the view that the department, in coordination with the NCERT, should ensure that contributions of many unsung freedom fighters from all corners of the country, including the northeastern region of the country, get incorporated with equal emphasis in the textbooks.”

While the department had sent its response to the committee in August, the NCERT did so in September. At the time of the tabling of the main report last year, the committee was headed by BJP MP Vinay P Sahasrabuddhe and included 21 Lok Sabha members and 10 Rajya Sabha members.

Of the Rajya Sabha members, four were from the BJP, and one each from TMC, CPM, DMK, AIADMK, SP and Congress. Twelve of its Lok Sabha members were from the BJP, two from Congress, and one each from TMC, CPM, JD(U), Shiv Sena, YSRCP, DMK and BJD.

The original report had observed that “many of the historical figures and freedom fighters have been portrayed in an incorrect manner as offenders”. “Therefore, the committee is of the view that wrong portrayal of our heroes of the freedom struggle should be corrected and they should be given due respect in our history textbooks,” the report stated.

The Education ministry’s position on the issue is significant as a government committee led by former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan is revising the national curriculum framework, based on which changes will be brought in school textbooks, starting with the ones published by the NCERT.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has also repeatedly, including as recently as in November, underlined the need to “rewrite history” as per a “new vision” rather than blaming “Left historians” or British historians for introducing alleged distortions and ignoring empires like Cholas, Pandyas, Mauryas, among others.

The House panel, in its original report, had also made similar observations on inadequate coverage to empires such as Vikramaditya, Cholas, Chalukyas, Vijaynagar, Gondwana or that of Travancore and Ahoms of the northeastern region.

In its response, the government told the panel that history textbooks developed by the NCERT follow a thematic approach wherein each theme as per the chronology of events “weaves the Indian empires like that of Vikramaditya, Cholas, Chalukyas, Vijaynagar, Gondwana or that of Travancore and Ahoms of northeastern region”.

“Now that the National Education Policy 2020 is in place, NCERT has initiated the development of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) through a bottom-up approach wherein states will also develop their state curriculum frameworks. As a follow-up of NCFs, new generation textbooks will be prepared as per the perspectives of NEP-2020,” it added.

The committee also reiterated that “action taken or proposed to be taken regarding adequate representation of Sikh and Maratha history needs greater study and enhanced portrayal of contribution to “ensure true reflection of history of these communities”.