NCERT syllabus row: Everything you need to know

From the Class 11 syllabus, chapters like Central Islamic Lands, Confrontation of Cultures, and The Industrial Revolution have been removed.

Additionally, texts about a brief ban imposed on RSS after Mahatma Gandhi's assassination and paragraphs on Gandhi's quest for Hindu-Muslim unity were also removed.

The NCERT clarified that Class 12 students had a lot of topics which added extra pressure, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, to lighten the load on students, several chapters were omitted.

On the allegations of removing the entire history of Mughal rulers, Dinesh Prasad Saklani, NCERT Director, said that only the content had been revised to reduce the load on students.

According to reports, he said that the decision was taken after the expert committees examined the books.

He further added that students are studying Mughal history in Class 7 textbooks and some chapters are in Class 11 textbooks as well. Further from 2 chapters on the history of Mughals which were in Class 12 textbooks, only one theme was removed while the other is still being taught.

Sakhlani further clarified that no chapter had been removed from any book this year.

“We are working as per NEP (National Education Policy) 2020. This is a transition phase. NEP 2020 speaks of reducing the content load. We are implementing it. NCF (National Curriculum Framework) for school education is being formed, it will be finalised soon. Textbooks will be printed in 2024 as per NEP. We have not dropped anything right now,’’ the NCERT chief said, according to a Livemint report.

The move was criticised by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge who tweeted, “You can (make) changes in textbooks but you cannot change the history of the country. This is an attempt by the BJP-RSS, they can try as much as they want, but they cannot erase history.”

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh called it “Whitewashing with a vengeance.”

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal also slammed the BJP and said the move is in line with PM Modi's vision and that modern Indian history should start from 2014, in a tweet.

However, Union minister Shobha Karandlaje defended the move and said the Congress was the "biggest manipulator" of India's historical facts and the BJP was only correcting the "wrongdoings", as per an India Today report.