“The future generations will not learn about the nation’s first education minister. What they will definitely learn is the shameful bigotry of the current dispensation,” Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — As reports of the deletion of many important subjects from the textbooks of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) have emerged, several opposition leaders have come down heavily on the omission of the reference to veteran freedom fighter and independent India’s first education minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad describing the decision as “outrageous” and “disgrace”.
According to The Hindu, any mention of Azad was removed from the revised textbook of political science meant for Class XI. In the book titled’ Indian Constitution at Work’, Azad’s reference was in the first chapter titled “Constitution — Why and How?”
“The Constituent Assembly had eight major committees on different subjects. Usually, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad, or Ambedkar chaired these committees. These were not men who agreed with each other on many things. Ambedkar had been a bitter critic of the Congress and Gandhi, accusing them of not doing enough for the upliftment of Scheduled Castes. Patel and Nehru disagreed on many issues. Nevertheless, they all worked together,” reads the para which was replaced with “Usually, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel or B.R. Ambedkar chaired these committees.”
The removal of the name of India’s one of most prominent leaders and former Congress president from the chapter has drawn massive outrage from political leaders, concerned citizens and academics.
Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor slammed the move describing it as a “disgrace”.
“What a disgrace. I have no objection to adding neglected figures to the historical narrative, but deleting people, especially for wrong reasons, is unworthy of our diverse democracy and its storied history,” tweeted Throor.
Terming it “outrageous”, prominent CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechuri noted that such vengeful rewriting of history to create a false narrative is being done to further the fascistic ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
“Such vengeful rewriting of history to create a false narrative to further the RSS fascistic ideological project destroys the foundations of Modern India inevitably negating all civilisational advances,” said Yechuri.
Prominent academic and historian Irfan Habib expressed his anguish over the development calling it “petty and shameful”.
“It is an insult for someone who stood for united India till the end,” said Habib.
In another Tweet, Habib said “The Mughals are not alone now to face the communal axe of the NCERT, even our indefatigable nationalist like Maulana Azad is denied a place in the textbooks. He is blatantly a victim of the communal ideology he fought against all his life. SHAME”.
Even former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is said to be tilting towards the Narendra Modi government, has opposed the move calling it “unacceptable”.
“Maulana Azad’s contributions to India’s freedom movement & education system are undeniable & erasing his name would be counterintuitive to our progress as a nation. Let’s acknowledge & appreciate the great leaders of our past who helped shape our future,” he said.
Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said: “The future generations will not learn about the nation’s first education minister. What they will definitely learn is the shameful bigotry of the current dispensation”.
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