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Communist Party of India (CPI) Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam on Wednesday slammed the recommendations of a panel of the NCERT to replace the name 'India with Bharat' in school textbooks.
He alleged that the NCERT panel that made the recommendations is filled with persons who are Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh supporters. Speaking to ANI Binoy Viswam said that the regressive recommendations made by a high-level committee set up by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) are against the foundational values of our Republic and go against the visions of our Constitution. "The Constitution of India, in its very first article, says "India that is Bharat", which was adopted after extensive debate in the Constituent Assembly. The recommendations made by the NCERT committee, which is full of RSS supporters, stating that the 'Bharat' be used extensively instead of 'India' goes against our collective past and the ethos of our Constitution" he told ANI. He also alleged that the proposal is designed to "manufacture an exclusionary future". "The NCERT committee has suggested "toning down" the focus on 'Hindu defeats' in the curriculum, which is not the objective and scientific way of learning history. Events in the past are also our guide to the future and by distorting the past, the RSS is trying to manufacture an exclusionary future," the CPI MP said. He said that the BJP government has failed on all accounts and people are deeply frustrated with the regime. "To divert attention from its colossal failures of the last nine years, RSS-BJP combine is creating artificial controversies to polarise opinions and divide the society. People reeling under this misrule are seeing through this nefarious design and will unseat them" he added An NCERT panel, headed by historian CI Issac, had earlier recommended replacing 'India with Bharat' in school textbooks. The recommendations were made by the seven-member Committee for Social Sciences which is among the committees constituted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training to prepare position papers on various subjects. The high-level NCERT committee made its recommendations in the final position paper on social sciences. Speaking to ANI over the phone, Issac said the "term India started being used commonly only after the establishment of the East India Company and the battle of Plassey in 1757". "We have unanimously recommended that the 'Bharat' should be used in textbooks for students across classes," Isaac said. The panel chaired by Issac was among the 25 committees formed by the NCERT in December 2021 to prepare position papers on various subjects and themes. A controversy had broken out over the panel recommendations with some opposition leaders alleging that "confusion" was being created as several institutions use 'India' in their names. (ANI)
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