Two weeks ago, Rajasthan’s State Institute of Education Research and Training (SIERT) rolled out a new edition of the Class 8 Social Sciences textbook. The media and the Congress were quick enough to pick out some significant changes in the syllabus, including the omission of Jawaharlal Nehru’s name and contribution at several instances.
To find out more on the changes made The Quint decided to revisit classroom days, and read both the books. Here are the changes, strictly in terms of the mentions some national figures have got. The verdict on whether it is the “saffronisation of education” or “balancing of political imbalances in education” is yours to make.
Chapter: The Constitution of India
2015 Edition:
The sub-section on the creation of the Constitution begins with an excerpt from a speech given by Jawaharlal Nehru, the “first creator” of the Constitution, on 13 December 1946 during a meeting of the Constituent Assembly. It also includes a picture of Nehru.
2016 Edition:
The above-mentioned excerpt is removed in entirety (including the picture). The sub-section recounts how, in 1922, Mahatma Gandhi demanded that “the political future of India be decided by Indians completely”, referring to Gandhi’s idea of Swaraj. This has been considered the beginning of the idea of an Indian Constitution, cemented by the 1929 call for ‘Poorna Swaraj’ or complete independence.
2015 Edition:
A separate box carries an excerpt from a speech by BR Ambedkar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee on 4 November 1948, when the motion to introduce the first draft constitution was declared open to then Constituent Assembly. A picture of him is also included.
2016 Edition:
This box has been removed in its entirety.
While deconstructing the timeline of events that led to the formation of the Constituent Assembly, both editions mention the contributions of Sachidanand Sinha (Provisional President of the Constituent Assembly), Dr Rajendra Prasad, Pt Nehru for moving the ‘Objectives Resolution’ for the Assembly and Dr BR Ambedkar.
If I may say so, if things go wrong under the new Constitution, the reason will not be that we had a bad Constitution. What we will have to say is that Man was vile.
Chapter: Fundamental Rights and Duties
2015 Edition:
The introduction to fundamental rights begins by remembering how Lokmanya Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi were punished for criticising the British government in the newspapers. It proceeds to mention the ‘Nehru Report’ of 1928, which proposed a new dominion status constitution for India, including fundamental rights.
2016 Edition:
The mention of Lokmanya Tilak and Gandhi is removed, while the significance of the Nehru Report in the framing of fundamental rights has been retained.
Chapter: Decline of the Mughal Empire and 18th Century India
Keeping aside structural changes, the 2016 edition focuses on Maratha leader Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his fight against the dying Mughal Empire and the oncoming East India Company. Contributions of Balaji Baji Rao (authority of the Maratha Confederacy), Jats, Murshid Kuli Khan (Begal), Banda Bhadur (Punjab), Tipu Sultan, Rani Lakshmi Bai and other prominent regional leaders are also mentioned, in context of the struggle against the new British rule.
Chapter: The National Movement
2015 Edition:
At the end of the chapter, there is a text box outlining the ‘leaders of the national movement’ which includes Dadabhai Nairoji, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.
2016 Edition:
The text box has been replaced by a mosaic of portraits of the ‘revolutionaries of the national movement’ and the names included are Rajguru, Sukhdev, Ram Prasad Bismil, Chandrashekhar Azad and Chapekar Bandhu. This is in continuation with the increased focus on the Extremists and their ideologies and actions during the national movement, in this edition.
2015 Edition:
This edition says Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s criticism of the British government landed him in jail. Bhagat Singh’s defence of the extremists also finds a place, while Savarkar gets a passing mention. Pictures of Mahatma Gandhi and Subhas Chandra Bose are included while describing the rise of the Indian National Congress.
2016 Edition:
This edition goes into extensive details of Bal Gangadhar Tilak. It describes how with the help of Shivaji and Chapekar Bandhu, through Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations, he spread the message of unity against the British and in a way, was on the forefront of the extremist movement. Paragraphs on the contributions of Bhagat Singh and VD Savarkar are also included in the national movement.
Pictures Retained: Gandhi, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhagat Singh, Bose, Sadhu Sitaram Das, Vijaysingh Pathak
Pictures Removed: Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Zoravar Singh Barhath, Heeralal Shastri
Pictures Added: Hemu Kalani, Veer Savarkar
Chapter: India After Independence
2015 Edition:
While there are sections dealing with displacement after Partition, and the redrawing of boundaries, there is no specific section for the integration of princely states with independent India.
2016 Edition:
In a separate and lengthy section on the integration of princely states with independent India, Sardar Patel gets a substantial amount of page space for his crucial work in persuading almost all states to join India peacefully. This contribution of Sardar Patel has been reiterated as significant several times with a reference to his title ‘Iron Man of India.’
2015 Edition:
The section on the formation of a provisional government for newly independent India delves into how Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhai Patel thought of appropriating British governance structures into a new democratic structure for India. It mentions BR Ambedkar as Chairman of the Drafting Committee, but does not mention Dr Rajendra Prasad. Picture boxes include Nehru, KM Pannikar, Ambedkar and an illustration of Nehru and Gandhi in conversation.
2016 Edition:
This book removes the aforementioned line on Nehru and Sardar Patel. It does refer to Ambedkar as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee. There are no pictures or reference to Nehru in the chapter. A picture of Rajendra Prasad, in place of Ambedkar is also present. In a new section about the NITI Aayog, Arvind Panagariya is named as the Vice Chairman.
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