‘Not in our name,’ 33 political scientists join chorus, ask NCERT to drop their names from textbooks

“Since there are several substantive revisions of the original texts, making them thereby different books, we find it difficult to claim that these are the books we produced and to associate our names with them,” reads the letter written Wednesday.

The 33 academicians (see the complete list at the end) include Kanti Prasad Bajpai, the former JNU professor who currently serves as the vice dean at the National University Singapore; Pratap Bhanu Mehta, the former vice-chancellor of Ashoka University; Rajeev Bhargava, the former director of CSDS; Niraja Gopal Jayal, the former JNU professor; Nivedita Menon, a professor at JNU; Vipul Mudgal, the Head of Common Cause; KC Suri, a former professor at the University of Hyderabad who is now associated with Gitam University; and Peter Ronald deSouza, the former director of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies.

Their letter comes within a week of Yadav and Palshikar’s first missive to the NCERT wherein they expressed their inability to identify any educational rationale for the textbook rationalisation process and expressed embarrassment at being associated with “mutilated and academically dysfunctional” books.

Responding to this, NCERT released a public statement on June 9 highlighting that the textbook development committees — of which Yadav and Palshikar were members — ceased to exist once the books were published. It said the copyright of the educational materials has since remained with NCERT, independent of the committee.

The rationalisation exercise in question was carried out by the Council last year, which subsequently reflects in the reprinted textbooks this year. This exercise involved dropping of several chapters, paragraphs, and even sentences from textbooks across subjects, under the pretext of reducing the curriculum to aid students in recovering from the learning disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

An investigation conducted by The Indian Express revealed that as part of the rationalisation process, the Council had removed references to the 2002 Gujarat riots, passages discussing the draconian effects of the Emergency on people and institutions, as well as chapters on protests and social movements, including those led by the Narmada Bachao Andolan, Dalit Panthers, and Bharatiya Kisan Union, from the political science textbooks.

In their letter, the 33 academicians highlighted that the textbooks were the result of extensive deliberations and collaborations among political scientists from various perspectives and ideological backgrounds and originally intended to impart knowledge about India’s freedom struggle, the constitutional framework, the functioning of democracy, and key aspects of Indian politics, while also integrating global developments and theoretical principles of political science. “We are now given to believe that this creative collective effort is in jeopardy,” they wrote.

Questioning NCERT’s defence of the revisions under Intellectual Property Rights, they argued that while NCERT has the right to publish the textbooks as they were originally produced, “but it is not at liberty to make substantive changes, minor or major, and then claim that the same set of contributors and Chief Advisors continue to be responsible for the revised text as it now stands.”

The letter ends with the request to delete their names as TDC members from political scene textbooks.

Here’s the text of the letter along with the list of all 33 signatories:

14 June 2023

Dear Professor Dinesh Prasad Saklani,
We have been following with growing concern, and increasing alarm, the public discussion on NCERT’s unilateral attempts to modify and revise textbooks produced collaboratively by scholars from across the country. We, the undersigned, have participated in these efforts to produce the textbooks in political science. Through these textbooks we hoped to explain to school students the ideals of our freedom struggle, the aspirations of the constituent assembly, the principles of our constitutional order, the role of leaders and movements, the nature of our federal system, the promising and dynamic qualities of our democratic republic, key episodes of contemporary politics in India, and the global developments and theoretical principles of political science in this uniquely Indian context.

The political scientists who contributed to this effort came from multiple perspectives and had varied ideological positions. Yet we were able to work together to produce what is, by any measure, a truly remarkable set of school textbooks in political science. The pedagogic strategy that was adopted was, over several months, collectively deliberated upon and agreed to.
We are now given to believe that this creative collective effort is in jeopardy.

NCERT is now making changes to the textbooks. These involve deletions of sentences and removal of some sections (even chapters) considered unacceptable with emphasis given to others considered desirable. The decision of who decides what is unacceptable and what is desirable has been kept rather opaque, violating the core principles of transparency and contestation that, we believe, underlies academic knowledge production.

In this regard we wish to state the following:
1. The political science textbooks were produced after considerable deliberation on substantive and pedagogic issues between contributors and Chief Advisors.

2. Political scientists from colleges, universities, and schools, from across India, accepted this responsibility of producing a set of engaging and accessible textbooks for school students in the discipline of political science. Considerable professional time was devoted to achieving this goal.

3. Drafts of texts produced were sent to the Chief Advisors who, after review, sent them back to contributors to consider the suggestions and make revisions if they felt them to be necessary. This consultative protocol was at the core of the process because it underscored the academic autonomy and freedom of the scholars who were involved.

4. In addition to the issues raised of (i) academic freedom, (ii) pedagogic integrity, and (iii) institutional propriety, we also seek your clarifications on the question of Intellectual Property Rights which you have claimed to defend your revisions. You say that NCERT has the IPR on the textbooks. This we accept. It can publish the textbooks as they were produced under the guidance of the Chief Advisors in as many copies and editions that it wishes. But it is not at liberty to make substantive changes, minor or major, and then claim that the same set of contributors and Chief Advisors continue to be responsible for the revised text as it now stands.

In addition to the risk of the revisions changing the meaning and saying the opposite of what was intended by the contributors, is the principle of consulting them on changes to be made, or at least consulting the Chief Advisors who piloted this collective effort, and getting their approval. Since there are several substantive revisions of the original texts, making them thereby different books, we find it difficult to claim that these are the books we produced and to associate our names with them.

With great regret at this turn of events we, therefore, request you to delete our names, as members of the Textbook Development Committee, from the political science textbooks of NCERT.

With best wishes,

1. Muzaffar Assadi, Dean Faculty of Arts and Professor, University of Mysore
2. Kanti Prasad Bajpai, National University, Singapore
3. Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata
4. Rajeev Bhargava, Hon Fellow, CSDS, Delhi
5. Dwaipayan Bhattacharya, CPS, JNU, New Delhi
6. Navnita Chadha Behera, University of Delhi
7. Lajwanti Chatani, MS University, Baroda
8. Rajeshwari Deshpande, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune
9. Peter Ronald deSouza, Former Director, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla.
10. Rajesh Dev, Delhi University
11. Akhil Ranjan Dutta, Gauhati University, Guwahati
12. Alex M George, Independent Researcher, Kerala
13. Malini Ghose, Nirantar, Center for Gender and Education, New Delhi
14. Niraja Gopal Jayal, Former Professor, Centre for Law & Governance, JNU, New Delhi
15. Manish Jain, School of Education Studies, Dr B. R. Ambedkar University, Delhi
16. Shefali Jha, CPS, JNU, New Delhi
17. Kailash K. K., University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad
18. Manjari Katju, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad
19. Shailendra Kharat, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune
20. Sanjay Lodha, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Governance and Social Sciences, Jaipur
21. Siddharth Mallavarapu, Shiv Nadar University, NOIDA
22. Pratap Bhanu Mehta, CPR, New Delhi
23. Nivedita Menon, JNU, New Delhi
24. Radhika Menon, Dept of Education, Mata Sundari College, Uni. of Delhi
25. Sanjeeb Mukherjee, Calcutta University, Kolkata
26. Vipul Mudgal, Common Cause, New Delhi
27. Sajal Nag, Assam University, Silchar
28. Aditya Nigam, formerly Professor, CSDS, Delhi
29. Priyavadan Patel, formerly Professor, MS University, Baroda
30. Chaitra Redkar, IISER, Pune
31. Sandeep Shastri, Academic Director, NITTE, Bengaluru
32. Ujjwal Kumar Singh, University of Delhi
33. K.C. Suri, Distinguished Professor, GITAM (deemed University), Visakhapattanam