NCERT Adds Scrapping Of Article 370, Drops Portion On Separatists Politics In J&K From Class 12 Textbooks

The NCERT has added abrogation of article 370 and removed portions about separatist politics in Jammu and Kashmir from class 12 political science textbooks.

Representative Image- PTI

New Delhi: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has added scrapping of article 370 in its syllabus while removing the topic of separatist politics in Jammu and Kashmir. According to a report by PTI, the NCERT has revised the chapter, 'Politics In India Since Independence’ in political science textbook meant for class 12^th.  The chapter will now have information on the abrogation of article 370 which removed the special status of the state and converted it two union territories- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. But the part “Separatism and Beyond” has been removed from it. The deleted portion according to the report read“One strand of separatists who want a separate Kashmiri nation, independent of India and Pakistan. Then there are groups that want Kashmir to merge with Pakistan. Besides these, there is a third strand, which wants greater autonomy for the people of the state within the Indian union.” In the revised version the part about Jammu and Kashmir reads “Jammu and Kashmir had a special status under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. However, in spite of it, the region witnessed violence, cross-border terrorism, and political instability with internal and external ramifications.” It also says, “The Article resulted in the loss of many lives, including that of innocent civilians, security personnel and militants. Besides, there was also a large scale displacement of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir valley.” Earlier this month, the CBSE which planned to cut down 30 percent of the syllabus for the academic session 2020-2021 was criticized for deleting certain topics. Some of the topics that were removed from class 10 syllabus included a chapter on Democracy and Diversity, Gender, Religion and Caste, popular struggles and movement, and challenges to democracy. For Class 11, the deleted portions include the chapters on Federalism, Citizenship, Nationalism, Secularism, and Growth of local governments in India. Similarly, Class 12 students will not be required to study the chapters on India's relations with its neighbours -- Pakistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, the changing nature of India's economic development, social movements in India. The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Ramesh Pokhriyal had later said comments about syllabus cut was ‘trying to portray a false narrative’ and was resorting to sensationalism. In a series of tweets the minister had appealed to ‘leave politics out of education’ and said there has been a lot of uninformed commentary on the exclusion of some topics from CBSE syllabus’. The Minister highlighted that it is a one time measure and the aim of syllabus reduction was to ease the stress on students. He also said that the step was taken after consultation with various experts and considering the educationists.