Dr. Deepak Rai, Bhopal, Mobile -9424950144
India's education system has always been rich, but there came a time when nefarious attempts were made to change the country's history. The first attack was made on the Indian education system. The real termite is Macaulay's education system, in which devotion to Englishism, reference books, quotes, all belong to the cunning British. Macaulay's education policy has caused as much damage to India as perhaps no other policy could have done. We became Indians by blood and colour, but remained British by interest, thoughts, morality and intellect. The British left the country, but the blood of Britishness continued to run inside many Indians. Even in independent India, no efforts were seen to bring about concrete changes in the education system, so that a glimpse of Vishwaguru could be seen. The biggest attack was made on history. That history was taught through books, which gave a wrong message to the future generation. It is very sad that for the last 50 years our children were being taught wrong history. However, for the last few days, some comforting news has been received. Many changes have been seen in the 5 years since the implementation of 'National Education Policy 2020' (NEP). Factual, multi-layered and rational history is being included in the NCERT books taught to children in schools.
25 books have been banned in Jammu and Kashmir which were spreading false narratives, glorifying terrorism and misleading the youth. Books of authors like Maulana Maududi, Victoria Schofield, David Devdas, Arundhati Roy, AG Noorani have been banned. The investigation by the Home Department has revealed that history was being distorted and taught in these books. NCERT has shown the most activism in this matter. Chapters on great warriors have been added to the syllabus. By including patriots like Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, Brigadier Mohammad Usman and Major Somnath Sharma in the books, students are being introduced to the inspiring history of courage, duty and sacrifice. NCERT has changed the syllabus of class 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th on a large scale. Some books have already come in the market. The cultural and glorious history of Madhya Pradesh is also a part of it. A few years ago, NCERT books were giving wrong information about history to children. In chapter 4 of the history book of class VII, from page number 37 to 48, 12 pages were devoted to the praise of the Mughal Empire. The period of 16th and 17th century was shown. The tenure of Jahangir to Bahadur Shah Zafar was mentioned. In this, the coins of the Mughal period, the system of governance, architecture, religion, culture etc. were mentioned. In chapter 8, from page number 94 to page number 104, the politics of the 18th century and the Mughal Empire were described in detail. In the old syllabus, Akbar was written as 'Akbar the Great'. How can anyone call Akbar 'great' knowing the massacre of about 30,000 Rajputs by Akbar in Chittorgarh Vijay (1568) and the harsh decisions taken by him as part of his policy of power and expansion. Now the word 'great' has been removed from the new syllabus. Reformist efforts like Navratna Sabha were seen during Akbar's reign. The innovations of Todarmal, Mansingh, Tansen and Birbal, who were included in Akbar's Navratna, the revenue system of the Mughal period, Todarmal's contribution in the Mansafdari system come to the fore. Din-e-Ilahi is called liberal, while the truth is that Islamic scholars themselves started it to get themselves declared as Nabi, Khalifa, Paigambar. Even though there is a discussion of some administrative reforms and Navratnas, he was definitely not 'great'. Now in the year 2025, NCERT has made many important amendments related to the Mughal period in the new book of Social Science (History) of class 8 “Exploring Society: India and Beyond”. These amendments are presenting historical events from a more real, factual, and balanced point of view. Many other topics including weather, climate, geographical changes, Indian Constitution, market review, business, etc. have been covered in detail by removing the Mughal Empire. In earlier books, Babur was being taught as the 'founder of the Mughal dynasty' and an 'intellectual'. Now he has been presented as a 'cruel invader' and 'ruthless conqueror'. Religious and cultural destruction, destruction of temples and looting during the invasion of India have been described. Earlier Aurangzeb was taught as a "harsh but administratively successful" emperor. In the new syllabus, he has been portrayed as a religiously intolerant and oppressive ruler. It has also been mentioned that the reinstatement of Jaziya tax, the execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the destruction of many Hindu temples and gurudwaras, etc. have been specially highlighted. The book also states that political rebellion and religious discontent increased rapidly during his reign. A new section has been added to the Class 8 book: "Note on Some Darker Periods in History". It says, "It is important to know the dark sides of history, but it is unfair to blame any community or class of today for them." This note explains the cruel side of history to the students and gives the message of maintaining tolerance and unity in today's society. If we look at the words used in the previous syllabus and the current revised words, Akbar the Great, Akbar: a mixture of tolerance and cruelty, Aurangzeb – religious disciplinarian Aurangzeb – intolerant and fanatic ruler, Babur – founder Babur – aggressive invader. In the new syllabus, instead of describing the administration of the Mughal period as only centralized and efficient, it has now been told that power was also used many times to suppress political opposition, spread cultural dominance and religious fanaticism. Actually, now the time has come to give factual and unbiased knowledge of history to the students. What never happened before, is now seen happening, this is a good thing. But the change should not stop here. There is a lot that is yet to change. NCERT has received feedback regarding the content of the books prepared under the new education policy, an expert committee has been formed to investigate it. After its report, extensive changes can be seen in the curriculum. These changes should not be limited to this. Historians have their own role, but the western view is embedded in the teaching of all subjects. There is a lack of self, Indian consciousness. The institutions and academies preparing the curriculum in the states should also prepare such a reference, which can stop false narratives and make the Indian education system the main objective.
(The author is a Bhopal-based journalist, he has been active in journalism and writing work for the last 16 years.)
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