The Hindu : Front Page : Now Ayodhya, Godhra for school textbooks

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 24, 2005

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Front Page

Now Ayodhya, Godhra for school textbooks

Lakshmi B. Ghosh

NEW DELHI: Nearly 13 years after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the Ayodhya temple dispute is set to find its way into school textbooks along with the much talked about Godhra riots in Gujarat. For the first time, school children will get to study in the classroom two momentous events that resulted in a great deal of tension and disharmony across the country.

To be introduced as part of the new Class XII political science syllabi announced recently by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the move has already sparked murmurs of protest from Right-wing spokespersons who see the additions as an attempt to malign the Bharatiya Janata Party's image. The new books are to be introduced from the 2007-2008 academic year.

The two events will be discussed under Chapter X titled "Recent Issues and Challenges'' that will look at various issues including challenges and responses to globalisation, the new economic policy of the Government and opposition to it, rise of other backward classes in North Indian politics, and Dalit politics in the electoral and non-electoral arena.

Although the recently- introduced history textbooks have come in for criticism even from the Left camp, the inclusion of communalism in textbooks is being seen by many scholars and academicians as a long overdue change. "It is very important. There was a proposal at one time in the 1990s, when Mr. Arjun Singh was a Minister at the Centre, to introduce contemporary history up to Ayodhya, but that did not happen. Considering there is really no mention of communalism in history books, even in sections dealing with the Freedom Struggle, this was needed,'' says historian Arjun Dev.

But the saffron brigade is clearly not happy with the move. "It is very difficult for us to comment unless we see the content and the context in which the incidents have been presented. But from what has been our experience with the United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre, I doubt if they have put it in the right perspective,'' says Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party president Harsh Vardhan.

And while it still waits to see the contents of the book, the BJP says it will not take any attempts to malign its image lying down. "We will take up the issue at different levels. As far as we are concerned, this is an important issue and if necessary, we will respond to any distortions with all the vigour,'' adds Dr. Vardhan.

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