{"id":343889,"date":"2023-05-31T00:35:42","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T06:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=343889"},"modified":"2023-05-31T00:46:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T06:16:53","slug":"ncert-drops-references-to-khalistan-in-class-12-political-science-textbook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/ncert-drops-references-to-khalistan-in-class-12-political-science-textbook\/","title":{"rendered":"NCERT drops references to \u2018Khalistan\u2019 in Class 12 political science textbook"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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New Delhi : <\/strong>The NCERT has dropped references to the demand for a separate Sikh nation Khalistan from the class 12 political science textbook following objections from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), according to top education ministry officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SGPC had last month alleged that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) misrepresented historical details about Sikhs in its Class 12 political science textbook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sikh body\u2019s objection pertained to the mention of the Anandpur Sahib resolution in the book \u201cPolitics In India Since Independence\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dropped sentences are\u2014\u201cthe resolution was a plea for strengthening federalism but it could also be interpreted as a plea for a separate Sikh nation\u201d and \u201cthe more extreme elements started advocating secession from India and the creation of \u2018Khalistan\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statements have been rewritten as \u201cthe resolution was a plea for strengthening federalism\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRepresentation from SGPC was received regarding withdrawing objectionable content against Sikh community by misrepresenting Sri Anandpur Sahib resolution. A committee of experts was constituted by NCERT to examine the issue and the decision was taken on basis of the recommendations of the panel,\u201d said Sanjay Kumar, School Education Secretary, Ministry of Education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA corrigendum has been issued by NCERT. While the physical books for the new academic session have already been printed, the changes will reflect in the digital books,\u201d Kumar added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Anandpur Sahib resolution was a document adopted by the Shiromani Akali Dal in 1973. The resolution affirmed the party\u2019s commitment to the Sikh religion and demanded greater autonomy for Punjab. It also demanded that the city of Chandigarh should be handed over to Punjab and that Punjabi should be given second-language status in neighbouring states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dropping several topics and portions from the NCERT textbooks had last month triggered a controversy with the Opposition blaming the Centre of \u201cwhitewashing with vengeance\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the heart of the row was the fact that while the changes made as part of the rationalisation exercise were notified, some of these controversial deletions weren\u2019t mentioned in them. This led to allegations about a bid to delete these portions surreptitiously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NCERT had described the omissions as a possible oversight but refused to undo the deletions, saying they were based on the recommendations of experts. It has also said the textbooks are anyway headed for revision in 2024 when the National Curriculum Framework kicks in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, later NCERT had changed its stand and said \u201cminor changes need not be notified\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the references that were dropped from class 12 history textbook were certain portions on Mahatma Gandhi and how his pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity \u201cprovoked Hindu extremists\u201d, and on a ban on the RSS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGandhiji\u2019s death had magical effect on communal situation in the country\u201d, \u201cGandhi\u2019s pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity provoked Hindu extremists\u201d and \u201cOrganisations like RSS were banned for some time\u201d are among the portions deleted from the textbook. The portions referring to Gujarat riots were also dropped from class 11 sociology textbook, months after NCERT removed the reference to the 2022 communal violence in two class 12 textbooks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Delhi : The NCERT has dropped references to the demand for a separate Sikh nation Khalistan from the class 12 political science textbook following objections from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), according to top education ministry officials. The SGPC had last month alleged that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":343890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36],"tags":[16785,16783,16782,16784],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343889"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343889"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":343892,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343889\/revisions\/343892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/343890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}