In a letter, Palshikar and Yadav expressing their objection to the new textbooks that still carry their names despite their disassociation from the revisions said, “Both of us do not want the NCERT to hide behind our names to pass on to students such textbooks of political science that we find politically biased, academically indefensible and pedagogically dysfunctional.”
“The new editions of these books that have been published with our names should be withdrawn from the market forthwith… If the NCERT fails to take immediate corrective action, we may be forced to take legal recourse,” the letter said.
Last year, Palshikar and Yadav had voiced their concerns about the rationalisation exercise, which they claimed had “mutilated” the books beyond recognition and rendered them “academically dysfunctional“. They said that the textbooks that were once a source of pride for them had become a source of embarrassment.
“Besides the earlier practice of selective deletions, the NCERT has resorted to significant additions and rewriting that are out of sync with the spirit of the original textbooks… the NCERT has no moral or legal right to distort these textbooks without consulting any of us and yet publish these under our names despite our explicit refusal,” the letter said.
“There can be arguments and debates about someone’s claims to authorship of any given work. But it is bizarre that authors and editors are forced to associate their names with a work they no longer identify as their own,” it added.
The NCERT is facing controversy once again, as the revised Class 12 political science textbook does not mention the Babri Masjid, instead referring to it as a “three-domed structure”. The latest deletions in the textbooks include the BJP’s ‘rath yatra’ from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya, the role of kar sevaks, communal violence following the demolition of the Babri Masjid, President’s rule in BJP-ruled states, and the BJP’s expression of “regret over the happenings at Ayodhya”.
The NCERT director, Dinesh Prasad Saklani, has rejected accusations of saffronisation of the school curriculum, stating that the modifications in textbooks are part of an annual revision and should not be a subject of hue and cry. He further explained that references to Gujarat riots and Babri masjid demolition were modified because teaching about riots “can create violent and depressed citizens.”
(With PTI inputs)