EDUCATION
Panel on new NCERT social science curriculum wants ‘Bharat’, not India, in books — ‘unanimous view’
- Admin
- Nov 03, 2023
Panel on new NCERT social science curriculum wants ‘Bharat’, not India, in books — ‘unanimous view’
Panel chairman Prof C.I. Issac (Retd), a historian and RSS ideologue, says committee has also suggested toning down the focus on ‘Hindu defeats’ in social sciences curriculum
Bharat, not India, should be the country’s name in school textbooks, from primary to high-school level, a high-level committee set up by the NCERT to revise school curriculum has recommended, according to its chairman Prof C.I. Issac (Retd), a historian and RSS ideologue.
The committee has also suggested toning down the focus on “Hindu defeats” in the curriculum,
The recommendation adds a new dimension to the debate that began after the Union government, on 5 September, sent invites for a G20 dinner hosted by the President in the name of “President of Bharat”, instead of “President of India”, as has been the convention.
Four days prior to that, speaking in Guwahati, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had said that people should use the name Bharat, not India.
Article 1(1) of the Constitution states “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States”.
Issac, who was conferred the Padma Shri in January this year, said the committee has specifically recommended that school students be taught the name Bharat, instead of India, in textbooks.
“The name Bharat finds mention in the Vishnu Purana. Kalidasa used the name Bharat. It is an age-old name. The name India came much later with the invasion of Turks, Afghans and Greeks,” he said.
“They identified Bharat on the basis of the Sindhu river. The invaders found it convenient. I insisted that only the name Bharat be used in textbooks till 12th standard. The other members accepted and it became the committee’s unanimous view,” Issac added.
Another aspect that the committee highlighted, said Issac, is that the prevailing curriculum and textbooks put too much emphasis on “Hindu defeats in battles”.
“In contrast, Hindu victories are not mentioned. Why do our textbooks not teach our students that Muhammed Ghori was killed by Indian tribal people while he was returning after plundering India? Why is the Battle of Colachel (Kingdom of Travancore vs Dutch East India Company) missing from our textbooks? Why is the period of Emergency not taught in detail?” Issac said.
An ex-member of the Union Education Ministry’s Indian Council of Historical Research, Issac is a former member of the faculty at the Department of History in the Kottayam-based CMS College.
He joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the RSS’ student wing, in 1975, and is the current state working president of the Kerala unit of the RSS-linked think tank Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram.
The other members of the committee include ICHR chairperson Prof Raguvendra Tanwar (Retd), Prof Vandana Mishra of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Vasant Shinde, former Vice-Chancellor of Deccan College Deemed University, and Mamta Yadav, who teaches sociology at a Haryana government school.
While Mishra is a former national secretary of ABVP, Yadav is a former national vice-president of the organisation.
Tanwar and Yadav refused to comment on the suggestion that Issac claimed was a unanimous one.
Issac said the committee has also recommended that the classification of periods in Indian history — as ancient, medieval and modern — should be phased out.
“We should replace the term ancient with classical. That is something our paper recommends,” Issac added.
NCERT Wednesday issued a statement saying: “On the news in media being flashed about changing the name of India into Bharat in all NCERT textbooks, NCERT states that since the development of new syllabus and textbooks is in the process and for that purpose various Curricular Area Groups of domain experts are being notified by the NCERT. So, it is too premature to comment on the news being flashed in the media on the concerned issue.
The recommendation adds a new dimension to the debate that began after the Union government, on 5 September, sent invites for a G20 dinner hosted by the President in the name of “President of Bharat”, instead of “President of India”, as has been the convention.
Four days prior to that, speaking in Guwahati, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had said that people should use the name Bharat, not India.
Article 1(1) of the Constitution states “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States”.
Issac, who was conferred the Padma Shri in January this year, said the committee has specifically recommended that school students be taught the name Bharat, instead of India, in textbooks.
“The name Bharat finds mention in the Vishnu Purana. Kalidasa used the name Bharat. It is an age-old name. The name India came much later with the invasion of Turks, Afghans and Greeks,” he said.
“They identified Bharat on the basis of the Sindhu river. The invaders found it convenient. I insisted that only the name Bharat be used in textbooks till 12th standard. The other members accepted and it became the committee’s unanimous view,” Issac added.
Another aspect that the committee highlighted, said Issac, is that the prevailing curriculum and textbooks put too much emphasis on “Hindu defeats in battles”.
“In contrast, Hindu victories are not mentioned. Why do our textbooks not teach our students that Muhammed Ghori was killed by Indian tribal people while he was returning after plundering India? Why is the Battle of Colachel (Kingdom of Travancore vs Dutch East India Company) missing from our textbooks? Why is the period of Emergency not taught in detail?” Issac said.
An ex-member of the Union Education Ministry’s Indian Council of Historical Research, Issac is a former member of the faculty at the Department of History in the Kottayam-based CMS College.
He joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the RSS’ student wing, in 1975, and is the current state working president of the Kerala unit of the RSS-linked think tank Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram.
The other members of the committee include ICHR chairperson Prof Raguvendra Tanwar (Retd), Prof Vandana Mishra of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Vasant Shinde, former Vice-Chancellor of Deccan College Deemed University, and Mamta Yadav, who teaches sociology at a Haryana government school.
While Mishra is a former national secretary of ABVP, Yadav is a former national vice-president of the organisation.
Tanwar and Yadav refused to comment on the suggestion that Issac claimed was a unanimous one.
Issac said the committee has also recommended that the classification of periods in Indian history — as ancient, medieval and modern — should be phased out.
“We should replace the term ancient with classical. That is something our paper recommends,” Issac added.
NCERT Wednesday issued a statement saying: “On the news in media being flashed about changing the name of India into Bharat in all NCERT textbooks, NCERT states that since the development of new syllabus and textbooks is in the process and for that purpose various Curricular Area Groups of domain experts are being notified by the NCERT. So, it is too premature to comment on the news being flashed in the media on the concerned issue.
