NCERT takes debate on history one step further

The debate over history in the curriculum is only likely to get sharper after today, with the NCERT starting a series of lectures to counter...

The debate over history in the curriculum is only likely to get sharper after today, with the NCERT starting a series of lectures to counter ‘‘disinformation’’.

B.B. Lal, former ASI director general, kicked off the programme in Bhopal with a lecture titled ‘‘Why perpetuate myths? — A fresh look at ancient Indian history’’. He listed four ‘‘myths’’: that the Aryans invaded India; the Harappans were Dravidian-speaking; the Rigvedic Saraswati was the Helmand of Afghanistan; the Harappan culture became extinct, obscuring a vision of India’s past.

Lal said the answers lay in deciphering the Harappan script but evidence pointed to the Harapan and Vedic culture being the same.

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While chairman J.S. Rajput chose to distance the NCERT from the thrust of the lecture, Lal said he was glad to find many of his ‘‘findings’’ incorporated in the new ancient history textbook by Makhan Lal.

Asked if the NCERT supported what Lal said, Rajput said: ‘‘There are various interpretations. Why just history, we will take issues like the curriculum load to the people.’’ The next lecture would be held in Delhi on Nov 23. ‘‘We will also call historians critical of us,’’ he said.

Commenting on the lecture, Makhan Lal said: ‘‘Some things about the Harappans reflect Indianness, for which a strong material evidence existed but was deliberately ignored for long.’’

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