A chapter in the textbook's first chapter, titled "Constitution—Why and How," has been altered...
Digital Desk: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has removed references to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, India's first education minister, from Class 11 Political Science textbooks. This comes amid the uproar over the omission of references to Mahatma Gandhi's assassination and what he did after independence.
A chapter in the textbook's first chapter, titled "Constitution—Why and How," has been altered to exclude Maulana Azad's name from constituent assembly committee meetings.
The new line reads, "Usually, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, or BR Ambedkar chaired these Committees."
Azad was an important figure in the 1946 elections for the new Constituent Assembly of India, which was tasked with drafting the Indian Constitution. In his sixth term as Congress president, he also led a mission to engage with the British Cabinet Mission.
In addition, references to Jammu and Kashmir's conditional annexation have been removed from the same textbook. A sentence has been eliminated from the tenth chapter of the book, titled "The Philosophy of the Constitution."
The now-deleted line mentioned, "For example, the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the Indian union was based on a commitment to safeguarding its autonomy under Article 370 of the Constitution."
In August 2019, the Central government repealed Article 370, effectively terminating Jammu and Kashmir's status.
Two months later, in October 2019, the former state was divided into two Union Territories.
Continue Reading
