References to Nehru in textbook omitted

In a controversial move, references to India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru have been dropped in the new social science textbook for Class VIII in BJP-ruled Rajasthan.

The Congress cried foul and accused the Vasundhara Raje government of touching a “new low” by the “shameless act” of omitting references to Nehru in the book while carrying out a revision of textbooks.

Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee president Sachin Pilot said the Opposition party would launch an agitation against the “deliberate” omission of Jawaharlal Nehru’s name, saying the RSS-BJP can tweak text books but cannot rewrite history.

The references to Nehru have been removed in 2 chapters in the revised textbook which will be introduced from this academic session for Class VIII in schools affiliated to Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (or Ajmer Board).

Though the book is not available in the market yet, the information has been uploaded on the website of the Rajasthan State Textbook Board, which publishes the book for the state board.

The new name that has been included in the textbook is that of freedom movement leader Hemu Kalani. While the names of Mahatma Gandhi, Veer Sawarkar, Bhagat Singh, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Subhas Chandra Bose are among those figured in the textbook, there is no mention of Nehru either in the chapter on Freedom Movement or in that on India After Independence.

The revision of several textbooks has been carried out under curriculum restructuring by the Udaipur-based State Institute of Education Research and Training (SIERT).

The earlier edition of the book titled Social Science for Class VIII also had a table on “Major Leaders of National Movement” that featured the names and briefs on contribution of Dadabhai Naoroji, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose.

In that box, the reference to Nehru stated: “After becoming a barrister, he joined the national movement. He later became the president of Congress, leader of the interim government and the first prime minister of independent India.”