Tharoor Slams Removal Of Texts On Maulana Azad From NCERT Textbook, Calls It ‘Disgrace’

Taking on the Union Government, Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has called the dropping of texts on Maulana Abul Kalam Azad from NCERT textbook as ‘disgrace.’

Senior Congress Leader Shashi Tharoor

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Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has attacked the Union government over the removal of texts on Maulana Kabul Kalam Azad from NCERT textbooks. Opposing the move, he called the NCERT textbook revision as a “disgrace,’ Tharoor’s remark comes after a day following the removal of inferences on freedom fighter and India's first Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Tagging a media report on Friday, April 14, the former Union Minister tweeted: “What a disgrace. I have no objection to adding neglected figures to the historical narrative, but deleting people, especially for the wrong reasons, is unworthy of our diverse democracy and its storied history.”

Notably, the NCERT has been incorporating changes to its textbooks syllabus by removing certain portions of texts, as part of its ‘syllabus rationalisation’ move last year. Importantly, the changes to Class 11 Political Science texts had no mention in NCERT’s rationalization note. However, the NCERT has stated that no fresh changes are being incorporated this year, and all the updates being carried out in the NCERT syllabus were drafted last year itself. 

“Certain changes not finding mention in the rationalised content book could be an ‘oversight’,” NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani was quoted as saying by news agency PTI, talking on the developments. "Certain changes not finding mention in the rationalised content book could be an 'oversight'," Saklani was further reported saying. 

The fresh omissions to the NCERT Class 11 Political Science textbook include revisions to the first chapter named ‘‘Constitution - Why and How.’ A line in the chapter has been revised to drop Azad’s name from the constituent assembly committee meetings. After the revision, the line now reads: “Usually, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel or BR Ambedkar chaired these Committees.” 

A chapter from the very same book titled “The Philosophy of the Constitution” has been revised to drop the text ““For example, the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the Indian union was based on a commitment to safeguard its autonomy under Article 370 of the Constitution."