Communalism And History Textbooks

In Post- independent India the first important attempt to communalise education was taken by the centralgovernment in 1977 when Ancient India for Class XI prescribed and published by the NCERT was withdrawnform circulation at the behest of the Education Ministry. The book was restored in 1980 when the Congress cameto power. But the present government has decided to remove not only this book but also the other historytextbooks written by competent and conscientious scholars committed to secular values. Neither the books wereacademically examined nor the authors asked to answer the objections raised against their writings. A fewobjections were published in the newspapers. It was stated that the historicity of the gods couldn't bequestioned on the ground of archaeological evidence. In my view people should freely worship Ram and the othergods. But for this it is not necessary to deny the absence of even modest habitation in Ayodhya until thefifth century BC. Again, the NCERT authorities deny beef eating in ancient India. But the greatestDharmashastra scholar P V Kane supports it on the basis of literary sources, and the greatest Indianarchaeologist H.D. Sankalia supports it on the basis of excavations.

Those who hold power go on swearing by secularism, but there is a vast gap between their profession andpractice. This became clear at the conference of the state education ministers called by the EducationMinistry, which tried to impose Saraswati Vandana or the participants irrespective of their religions. What ismore significant the agenda for discussion at this conference was prepared by the education cell of the RSS.It had to be dropped because of stiff opposition from the majority of the participants. In this meeting inlast year no curriculum was approved. But for abolishing history at the pre-secondary stage and distorting itat the higher stage the NCERT now talks of this curriculum. Although there is no confusion in our constitutionabout secularism the present government at the centre and its supporters in some states are bent Upondestroying the secular character of education.

What should be taught at the primary and secondary stage is an important problem. The communalists want topresent all subjects in a communal colour, but they consider history to be the most effective vehicle of theirindoctrination. If they have their way in history they will concentrate on two or three questions, which willcertainly make things easy for both teachers and students, but at the same time this approach will destroy thevery fabric of secular India and lead to the disintegration of our nation. They will emphasize that alltemples were demolished by the Muslims who are foreigners in this country. They will teach that all socialevils in Hindu society have been introduced by the Muslims. They will given special attention to beef eatingand hold the Muslims responsible for the introduction of this practice. This is an important ground on whichthey have decided to withdraw Ancient India again. They have also raised a great hue and cry against D.N.Jha's book on this subject. They will teach that the Hindus are the descendants of the Aryans who were theindigenous inhabitants of India and all the other are foreigners.

Some textbooks taught in UP say that martyrs such as Bhagat Singh and his comrades were extremists andterrorists and those who demolished the Babri Masjid were great freedom fighters. The advent of British ruleis welcomed by them as the deliverance of India form foreign rule.

In the NCERT policy as reported in the papers, history, geography and civics are to be abolished asindependent courses at the primary and secondary stages. Obviously the authorities find it difficult to getwritten chauvinistic books to replace the existing academic books. That is why they have abolished history asan independent paper at the pre-secondary stage. At the cost of history and other papers they want to promoteSanskrit, Jyotish and Vedic mathematics. Sanskrit should be taught as an optional paper at the secondary stagelike Greek and Latin which are no longer compulsory in England. The importance of history and various sciencesubjects cannot be ignored. Science should not mean Vedic mathematics. In the mid 19th century theSanskritist and social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar argued for the introduction of modern mathematics inplace of the Sanskrit book on mathematics called Lilavati. He also recommended the study of history andphilosophy for students of Sanskrit College, Calcutta. The present authorities are bent upon reversing thewhole process.

Because of their blind faith the RSS agenda on education stresses nationalization, Indianisation andspiritualization. This will mean that so far education in independent India has not been national and Indian.Really they think of chauvinistic Indianism and nationalism, which has no place for rationalism. They considerspiritualization to be an important element of Indian lifelike some western scholars. But why don't theypractice it? The Indian tradition reserves the second and third stages in life for cultivating spiritualism.Why the Hindutava ministers who are above fifty do no renounce the world and why they hanker after power?

All this raises the problems of fighting communalist attack on education. Although we have madeconsiderable progress in education, we have not been able to get rid of many superstitious beliefs, whichinfluence our decisions and actions. These beliefs pave the way for the spread of chauvinism. Therefore ourteachers and students need a rational and objective approach to various subjects that are taught. In thestates ruled by communalist party's communal colour has been given to not only history textbooks but also toother subjects taught at the school stage. Secularists should examine such books from UP, Rajasthan, Gujaratand Madhya Pradesh and ensure those distortions denigrating minorities and women are removed from textbooks.

It is not easy to write any school textbook on history or other subjects in humanities and social sciences.Indian textbook writers should always bear in mind the basic value enshrined in our constitution whilecommunicating their ideas to school students. They should not ignore the consensus achieved on importantissues by scholars in the field but not on minor details. Although accepted views should be placed beforemembers of a younger age group, some original ideas, which hold potentialities for discussion and elaborationat the university stage should not be held back from them.

R.S. Sharma is Former Professor and Head, Department of History, Delhi University, andFormer Chairperson, ICHR. Courtesy: Delhi Historians Group