NCERT Deletes J&K Separatism Topic From Class 12 Pol Science Book
The topic has reportedly been replaced with content on electoral politics and abrogation of Article 370.
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The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has reportedly done away with a topic on separatism politics for Class 12 political science students, and replaced it with ‘200 and Beyond’ that discusses electoral politics.
Content on the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution has been included in a chapter titled ‘Regional Aspirations’ in the Class 12 textbook, The Indian Express reported. The revisions have been made in the book called ‘Politics in India since Independence’.
A draft proposal prepared by NCERT had suggested that students appearing for Classes 10 and 12 examinations to be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in 2021 may be allowed to study certain topics only for internal assessment.
On 5 August 2019, Parliament had revoked Article 370, which grants special rights to Jammu and Kashmir and its residents.
The topic that has been removed ‘Separatism and Beyond’, reportedly contained information on the different strands of separatists in Kashmir since 1989.
Noting that the idea of autonomy had always been an attractive one for the people of Kashmir and Ladakh, a line in the topic reportedly read: “...therefore, the demand for intra-State autonomy is as strong as the demand for the State autonomy.”
The new content reportedly charts the progress of the various coalition governments in the region since then. According to The Indian Express’ report, a line in the new chapter reads that despite its special status, the state had “experienced violence, cross border terrorism and political instability with internal and external ramifications” along with loss of life.
It also reportedly contains details about the recommendation of a “free and fair plebiscite in J&K” based on a UN resolution in 1948 while deleting a quote by former J&K governor BK Nehru on the dismissal of Farooq Abdullah’s government.
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
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