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Kerala education minister V Sivankutty on Thursday said that the state government will not accept an NCERT high-level committee's recommendation that 'India' be replaced with 'Bharat' as the name of the country in school textbooks.
"Citizens have the right to use India or Bharat as said in the constitution. That they are now saying only Bharat should be used as a country's name is a narrow politics. Kerala cannot accept this," V Sivankutty told reporters here. He also alleged that there is a move by the BJP-led Central government to distort historical facts. "Earlier, after NCERT had removed certain portions, we included them in the syllabus taught in the state through additional textbooks," V Sivankutty said. "If NCERT intends to teach children things that are unconstitutional, unscientific and distorted versions of history, then Kerala will resist it," he added. Sivankutty also said that the Kerala government will convene the State Curriculum Committee to discuss in detail the work of preparing the 44 textbooks that are currently used in the state keeping the academic interests of the students in mind. An NCERT panel, headed by historian CI Issac, recommended replacing 'India with Bharat' in school textbooks. The recommendations were made by a seven-member Committee for Social Sciences, which is among the committees constituted by the NCERT to prepare position papers on various subjects. 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. Reacting to the committee's recommendation, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday accused the Centre of seeking to confuse people. "Why are we saying the Reserve Bank of India, Indian Administrative Service and Indian Foreign Service? In our passports, we have the Republic of India... Why are they confusing the minds of Indians?... Whatever stand they have taken is completely anti-people, anti-India, and anti-Bharat... I am telling you they (NCERT) have been forced by the NDA government. This is completely wrong... You can't change the history of India... Karnataka will continue with whatever there was earlier..." he told reporters. (ANI)
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