The recommendation of an NCERT panel to replace ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’ in school textbooks has drawn flak from opposition parties with Karnataka Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar questioning why the government was confusing the minds of people.
“You can't change the history of India,” the deputy chief minister said, alleging that the stand taken by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) was “anti-India” and “anti-Bharat”.
"Why are we saying the Reserve Bank of India, Indian Administrative Service and Indian Foreign Service? In our passports, we have the Republic of India... I think something wrong has happened to this government... Why are they confusing the minds of Indians?... Whatever stand they have taken is completely anti-people, anti-India, and anti-Bharat,” Shivakumar told news agency ANI.
The Congress leader further alleged that the NCERT was being forced to take such decisions by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
The DMK also hit out at the move, saying the government was taking such move only because the opposition alliance had named their alliance as INDIA.
"The government is changing the name only because the opposition alliance had named their alliance as INDIA. It is not even India. They want to change and name as Bharat. Cheap and illogical things are in the minds of the Modi government...This is out of fear...How can NCERT do that without amending the Constitution?,” DMK leader T.K.S. Elangovan said.
The high-level committee, constituted by the NCERT to revise the school curriculum has recommended that “India” be replaced with “Bharat” in school text books. It also recommended introducing “classical history” instead of “ancient history”, according to committee chairperson C.I. Isaac.
NCERT chairman Dinesh Saklani, however, said no decision has been taken yet on the panel's recommendations.
"The committee has unanimously recommended that the name 'Bharat' should be used in the textbooks for students across classes. We have also recommended introducing classical history instead of ancient history in the textbooks," Isaac told news agency PTI.
The NCERT is revising the curriculum of the school textbooks in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The council recently constituted a 19-member National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC) to finalise the curriculum, textbooks and learning material for these classes.
Other members of the committee include ICHR Chairperson Raghuvendra Tanwar, Vandana Mishra, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Vasant Shinde, former vice-chancellor of the Deccan College Deemed University, and Mamta Yadav, who teaches sociology in a Haryana government school.
