‘Freedom fighters not depicted in incorrect manner’: Centre to Parliamentary committee

NEW DELHI: The Union Government has refuted a Parliamentary panel’s observation that freedom fighters in National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks “have been portrayed in an incorrect manner as offenders”.

The department-related Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports had called for removal of “distorted facts” on several historical figures and freedom fighters who were portrayed “erroneously” in NCERT textbooks. This committee report was first tabled in Rajya Sabha in November 2021 that focused on examining inputs to improve NCERT books.

Defending the NCERT textbook content, the department of school education literacy said that textbooks of Class 8, 10 and 12 include portrayal of freedom fighters in an “event- oriented approach and they have not been depicted in an incorrect manner”.

After the committee’s observation was tabled last year, the NCERT had planned to constitute a committee to “immediately analyse and address some of the issues with regard to un-historical facts and distortions” about national heroes. “The Department 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,” the government wrote in response to the observation.

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Distortion of facts in NCERT books

A body of historians and scholars, Indian History Congress (IHC), had also criticised the “unsubstantiated allegations’ made by the Parliamentary standing committee on the portrayal of freedom fighters in textbooks.

The committee had recommended the government to include “equal or proportionate references to all periods of Indian history” alleging that the books have unproportionate references of the Mughal era.

This observation, however, did not find a place in the list of observations and responses given by the education ministry.

Moreover, the panel had highlighted the “inadequate coverage” of Indian ancient empires like Vikramaditya, Cholas, Chalukyas, Vijaynagar, Gondwana or that of Travancore and Ahoms of the northeastern region.

Replying to the observation, the government said that “the 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 North-Eastern region.”

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NCERT Textbooks: Diversity

The committee in its initial report “strongly recommended” the need to address the unequal representation of regional history for a “balanced and judicious perception of the Indian freedom struggle.” It also asked the government to provide equal representation to the northeastern Indian states and their history.

“It has been informed that as per the NEP-2020 recommendations, NCERT has initiated the development of National Curriculum Framework [NCF] for School Education under the guidance of the National Steering Committee set up by the Ministry of Education. As a follow-up of the National Curriculum Framework, a task of new generation syllabi and textbooks taking care of representation related to North-East States will be undertaken,” the government replied in the report.