New Delhi
The National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) has made a big change in the social science book of class 7. NCERT has removed the entire part of the Mughals and the Delhi Sultanate from this book. Instead, emphasis has been laid on ‘holy site’, ‘Mahakumbh’ and ‘government schemes’. This change has been described as the New Education Policy (NEP 2020) and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) 2023, which aims to add Indian knowledge, traditions and local thinking in education.
Class 7’s social science book is named ‘Exploreing Society: India and Beyond’ (India and Beyond). According to the report, it has now focused on ancient Indian dynasties like Maurya, Sunga, Satavahana. At the same time, medieval rulers like the Mughals, Tughlaq, Khiljis, Maluk and Lodhi dynasty are no longer mentioned.
Trying to get the Mughals out of history?
Reacting to this, Professor Ali Nadeem Rizvi said, “The atmosphere of the country is changing in such a way that the Mughals are trying to disappear from history. Whether history is good or bad, it is history and it cannot be changed. Yes, if new facts are revealed, they can be included, but no significant context from history is not right to remove any important reference from history.”
Professor Rizvi also said that the syllabus of history or any subject can be revised again and again, but it is worrying to disappear some pages of history. They believe that if new information is present, it can be added to the textbooks, but removing or ignoring parts of history can be harmful to the country.
Is there an attempt to erase the contribution of the Mughals?
Professor Rizvi also said that seeing this change, it seems that efforts are being made to ignore the contribution of the Mughals, so that the coming generations do not know what the Mughals had contributed to the history and culture of the country. He feared that this change may be a part of that environment somewhere, in which history is being re -written and some parts are being deliberately removed.
Professor Rizvi explained in detail that if the textbooks are being talked about Indian culture, civilization or society, then subjects like Mahakumbh, Make in India, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao can be included there, because they are part of our society and culture. But as far as history is concerned, history should be limited to history only. Trying to change history or manipulating it, according to him, is condemnable.
New Syllabus: Correct Balance of Culture and History
Professor Rizvi said in this context that if books talk about culture and civilization, they should have the freedom to include Mahakumbh and other cultural contexts. But history should be allowed to remain history, and should not try to change it. He said that the efforts are being made to ‘invigible’ the Mughals, it can prove to be a major obstacle in understanding the history of India.
Which chapters were removed?
Mughal and Delhi Sultanate chapters have been removed from class 7 books in the new NCERT new textbooks. Under these changes, the new chapters emphasize the Indian dynasty, ‘Holy Geography’, Mahakumbh and government schemes. According to NCERT officials, this is the first part of the textbook and the second part will be released in the coming months. However, he did not confirm whether the first removed parts would be added back or not.
In 2022-23 during the Kovid-19 epidemic, NCERT had already reduced parts based on the Mughal and Delhi Sultanate, but now the new textbook has decided to completely remove them. The social science textbook named ‘Exploring Society: India and Beyond’ includes new chapters which are focused on ancient Indian dynasties such as Magadha, Maurya, Sung and Satavahana.
Mention of Mahakumbh
The new textbook also includes chapters named ‘Holy Geography’ in which the holy places and pilgrims of India are explained in detail. It describes 12 Jyotirlinga, Char Dham Yatra, and Shakti Peethas.
Mahakumbh Mela, which was held in Prayagraj this year, has also been included in the textbook, which states that about 660 million people or 66 crore people were involved in it.
A new chapter ‘How the Land Backet Sacred’ has also been added. It states how land is considered sacred in India and other countries. This chapter also describes places and pilgrimage centers considered holy in India and abroad for religions like Islam, Christian, Jewish, Parsi, Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh religion.
Apart from this, there is a discussion of Char Dham Yatra, 12 Jyotirlinga, Shaktipeeth and confluence of holy rivers. Also, it has been told how India has been considered as ‘land of pilgrimages’ from Badrinath to Kanyakumari.
