MP objects Gujarat riots description in NCERT book

The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh has raised objections and demanded “correction” in the description of 2002 Gujarat riots in a Class XII NCERT book.

School Education Minister Dipak Joshi wrote a letter to the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on Wednesday, seeking correction in the Class XII political science textbook chapter titled Recent developments in Indian politics.

“The way the chapter describes the Godhra incident and its aftermath is totally wrong. Narendra Modi won the state (Assembly) elections soon after the Godhra carnage. We (have) sent a letter to the HRD ministry and the NCERT, asking them to correct the controversial chapter,” a news agency quoted Joshi as saying.

Joshi also raised objections to some of the contents in the chapter Politics in India since Independence on the imposition of emergency under the Indira Gandhi regime in the same textbook.

“The chapter praises the emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi, which is wrong,” he said.

Interestingly, the Joshi's objection to the contents comes months after the NCERT “revised and updated” all its textbooks in consultation with the HRD ministry.

The NCERT had also received a larger number of comments and suggestions from various stakeholders including state governments.

While sources in the HRD ministry said that it had not yet received any letter, which seeks correction in textbook contents, from the Madhya Pradesh government, a news channel quoted Satya Pal Singh, Minister of State for HRD, on Friday saying that the ministry will “look into it.”

Incidentally, Singh, who is in-charge of the higher education department of the HRD Ministry, was in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday when Joshi wrote to the NCERT and the HRD ministry seeking correction in the political science textbook.

Singh held a press conference in Bhopal to highlight the achievements of the Modi government and also called on Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.