Months after objections were raised on an NCERT Class XII political science textbook projecting the red-flagged Aksai Chin area as part of China, the map now stands deleted, informed the Minister of State for Human Resources Development Upendra Kushwaha on 1 January 2018.
At the floor of the lower house, the minister said, “The map was taken from the map collection of the University of Texas and the same was mentioned at the bottom of the map. The map stated that ‘boundary representation is not necessarily authoritative’. The border between India and China near Aksai Chin is marked in dotted lines to indicate the dispute in the map.”
As soon as objections were raised… the NCERT examined the matter and decided to replace this map. The map already stands deleted in the online version.Upendra Kushwaha said in his reply regarding the NCERT’s Contemporary World Politics textbook
“The heading of the map stated that it was a Map of East and South East Asia,” remarked Kushwaha.
Aksai Chin’s Significance
In May, 2017, The Quint had pointed out a map in a class 12 Political Science textbook of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) that depicted Aksai Chin as part of China.
The Indian claim to Aksai Chin is based on an internal British Indian survey, the Johnson Line. After the Sino-India war of 1962 resulted in a humiliating defeat for India, the Chinese declared a unilateral ceasefire, withdrawing from Arunachal Pradesh – but not Aksai Chin.
Aksai Chin has since become the dragon’s bargaining chip, keeping India militarily insecure and engaged. India has continued to call Chinese administration of the region “illegal occupation,” and the Indian version of the map marks it under the Ladakh district of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
NCERT’s Statement
The textbook – titled ‘Contemporary World Politics’ – was first printed in 2007 and subsequently reprinted. It contains a map showing Aksai Chin coloured in the same yellow as China.
Following which the educational organisation NCERT had decided to replace the map. In a statement, the organisation said that the map – which figured on page 56 – was not a map of India, but of East and South East Asia. It also said the map will be replaced with a map of Southeast Asia in the reprint edition.
(With inputs from The Indian Express.)
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