After Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palshikar, 33 academics ask NCERT to drop their names from textbooks

In their letter to NCERT director DP Saklani, the 33 authors have expressed their growing concern and alarm over the unilateral attempts by NCERT to modify and revise the textbooks that were collaboratively produced by scholars from across the country. They emphasize their participation in the creation of political science textbooks and express their belief that this collective effort is now in jeopardy.

"Since there are several substantive revisions of the original texts, making them thereby different books, we find it difficult to claim that these are the books we produced and to associate our names with them,” reads the letter written Wednesday as reported by The Indian Express.

The authors have urged the council to remove their names from the Textbook Development Committee (TDC) responsible for the reprinting of the political science textbooks.

The letter, dated June 14, further states that the changes being made to the textbooks by NCERT, including the deletion of sentences and removal of sections or even entire chapters, are unacceptable. The authors argue that the decision-making process regarding what is deemed acceptable or desirable lacks transparency, violating the core principles of academic knowledge production, which should be characterized by transparency and contestation.

Yadav and Palshikar in their letter had expressed their concerns over the changes being made to the reprinted books, describing them as "mutilating." They had requested their names to be removed from the latest textbooks.

However, in response to this, the NCERT issued a statement on its website, stating that dropping the names of the chief advisors from the textbooks was not an option since the textbooks bear the council's copyright and include contributions from all the experts.

Since NCERT announced the rationalisation of textbooks it has been in controversy. As per various academics NCERT through this is rewriting history.

In the rationalised textbooks for Class 11 Political Science textbook notably mentions of Maulana Azad have been removed, from Class 12 Political Science textbook pages on the topic ‘Gujarat Riots’ have been excluded from the chapter titled ‘Recent Developments in Indian Politics’.

As per PTI, A poem on the Dalit movement and a chapter on the Cold War are among the exclusions from the political science textbook.

Another issue is the removal of a lot of chapters on Mughal History in India. Chapters titled ‘Central Islamic Lands,’ ‘Clash of Cultures,’ and ‘Industrial Revolution’ have been removed from the Class 11 book Themes in World History.

Times of India  reported that the chapters under the sub-head ‘Themes of Indian History: Part 2,’ of the Class 12 history textbook, which are related to ‘Kings and Chronicles; the Mughal Courts (C. 16th and 17th centuries)’ have been removed.

Katherine Schofield, who is a historian of music and listening in Mughal India “This RIDICULOUS. The Mughals ruled over much of India for over 200 years (technically over 300) and left behind an enduring legacy. Love them, loathe them, or really not care — leaving the Mughals out of school history textbooks won’t magic them away.”

This RIDICULOUS. The Mughals ruled over much of India for over 200 years (technically over 300) and left behind an enduring legacy.

Love them, loathe them, or really not care — leaving the Mughals out of school history textbooks won’t magic them away. https://t.co/c6VOoBoaP5— Dr Katherine Schofield 🇬🇧🇦🇺 (@katherineschof8) April 3, 2023

In the Class 10 Democratic Politics 2 textbook, the chapters titled ‘Democracy and Diversity,’ ‘Popular Struggles and Movements,’ and ‘Challenges of Democracy’ have been dropped.

These changes will be reflected in the books of the upcoming academic session of 2023-24.