The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has released the revised Class-8 Social Science textbook. In the revised textbook, a chapter on the Partition of India states that the Congress, which led the country’s movement against the Independence, accepted the two-nation theory as it thought it was “the only way forward.”
While the general perception among the masses about India’s independence has been that Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership and the Congress party’s non-violence movement forced the British to exit India, the revised NCERT Class 8 Social Science textbook reportedly emphasises that several factors, including uprisings, mutinies in the British Air Force and Navy, and the diminished status of Britain after World War II, played their role.
“This view has given way to a recognition that multiple other factors were also at work – the popular uprisings, the numerous attempts by revolutionaries, the mutinies in the Royal Indian Air Force and the Royal Indian Navy. Also, Britain’s diminished status after World War II, and the worldwide trend towards decolonization – the age of empires was over, at least in that form,” the revised textbook reads.
However, the earlier version of the textbook had stated that the partition became “inevitable” after a three-member British Cabinet Mission sent to Delhi “could not get the Congress and the Muslim League to agree to specific details of the proposal”.
The revision has triggered a massive political row. While the ruling BJP has supported the new narrative, the Opposition Congress firmly objected to the changes, calling it an “attempt to distort history.”
‘Dark chapters of history’ should come out, says BJP
Speaking about the controversy, Senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi accused the Congress of distorting historical realities for decades. He alleged that the Congress tried to push the country’s reality and the contributions of great national figures into the dark pages of history.
“The history of the Congress party is quite tainted; that is why, after so many decades, history itself has turned rebellious. The Congress tried to push the country’s reality, its history, and the contributions of great national figures into the dark pages of history,” Naqvi said.
“Now all of this should come before the nation and the new generation — and it is coming,” he added.
‘Partition should be viewed in context’
RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha, however, urged that the events surrounding Partition be viewed in context. Referring to the extraordinary circumstances Congress leadership faced at the time, Jha said that those speaking about it now may not understand the gravity of the situation.
“Rivers of blood were flowing at that time. Today it is easy to sit and deliver speeches, but those speaking now may not understand the gravity of the situation back then,” he said.
‘Pushing RSS narrative,’ alleges Congress
The Opposition Congress, which primarily led the country’s independence movement, sees the revision as a conspiracy to push the RSS narrative. Speaking to a media organization, senior Congress leader Manickam Tagore said that the BJP is trying to distort history to promote a “false RSS narrative”. “They want to teach false history to the younger generation,” the Congress leader alleged.
NCERT also includes “corruption in the judiciary”
The NCERT has, for the first time, introduced content on the alleged corruption within the judiciary and the mounting backlog of court cases in its revised Class-8 Social Science textbook.
The new chapter, titled ‘Role of the judiciary in society,’ outlines key challenges faced by the judicial system, including alleged corruption at various levels, shortage of judges, complex legal procedures, and inadequate infrastructure, leading to a significant pendency of cases.
According to the data included, around 81,000 cases are pending in the Supreme Court, approximately 62 lakh 40 thousand cases in high courts, and nearly 4 crore 70 lakh cases in district and subordinate courts.
Reacting to this, senior advocate and former Union Minister Kapil Sibal asked why similar attention was not given to the “massive corruption” of “politicians, including ministers, public servants, investigation agencies”, and why governments “brush them under the carpet.”
“NCERT’s Class 8 book includes a section on: Corruption in the judiciary! What about the massive corruption of: Politicians, including ministers, public servants, and investigation agencies. And why governments brush them under the carpet!” Sibal said on X.