Name change controversy: Will school textbooks now replace India with Bharat?
Name change controversy: Will school textbooks now replace India with Bharat?
Is India changing its name to Bharat? It’s a question that keeps surfacing these days. We don’t have a definitive answer yet, but in schools, children are likely to be taught that they are citizens of Bharat. A proposal by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) panel to replace “India” with “Bharat” in all textbooks has been unanimously approved by its members.
The change, if accepted, will be incorporated into the next set of books to be printed.
However, the NCERT director told News18 that as of now it is just a recommendation and it is yet to get approval.“We have not accepted anything at the moment. The panel sent their report,” the NCERT director said.
Also read: From India to Bharat: A brief history of the many names of the country
Why has the panel suggested a name change in books?
The proposal was put forth several months ago but has now received a formal endorsement. According to Prof CI Isaac (Retd), one of the panel members, the new NCERT books will reflect the name change.
The recommendation to revise the school curriculum was made by a high-level committee for social sciences, constituted by the NCERT, said Isaac, a historian and an RSS ideologue. He added that the unanimous recommendation given by the seven-member committee has found a mention in its final position paper on social sciences, which is a key prescriptive document for laying down the foundation for the development of new NCERT textbooks, reports Hindustan Times (HT).
According to Isaac, Bharat is an age-old name. The use of the name Bharat finds its mention in ancient texts such as Vishnu Purana, which is 7,000 years old. “The term India started being used commonly only after the establishment of the East India Company and the battle of Plassey in 1757,” he was quoted as saying by HT. Therefore, the committee has unanimously recommended that the name ‘Bharat’ should be used in textbooks for students across classes, he explained.
The name change controversy erupted after invites to the G20 dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu in September referred to her as the President of Bharat instead of India as has been the convention. Four days before that, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said during a speech in Guwahati that people should use the name Bharat, not India.
During the G20 Summit, Narendra Modi’s nameplate also read “Bharat” as he addressed the leaders summit in New Delhi. The ancient name was first used on an ASEAN event invitation extended to PM Modi referring to him as the “Prime Minister of Bharat”.
Article 1(1) of the Constitution states “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States”. During an interview with ANI, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, “India, that is Bharat, is there in the Constitution. Please, I would invite everybody to read it.”
Isaac told ThePrint that he insisted on using only Bharat in textbooks till Class 12. His view was accepted by other members of the committee.
What are the other changes recommended?
The NCERT panel has also reportedly suggested that the focus on “Hindu defeats” in the curriculum should be toned down. “Our failures are presently mentioned in the textbooks. But our victories over the Mughals and Sultans are not,” said Issac, who is also a member of the Union education ministry’s Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR).
He believes that the current curriculum puts too much emphasis on “Hindu defeats in battle”. “Why do our textbooks not teach our students that Muhammed Ghori was killed by Indian tribal people while he was returning after plundering India? Why is the Battle of Colachel (Kingdom of Travancore vs Dutch East India Company) missing from our textbooks? Why is the period of Emergency not taught in detail?” Issac told ThePrint.
The NCERT committee has also recommended the introduction of “classical history” instead of “ancient history” for students.
Isaac said that the British divided history into three phases – ancient, medieval and modern – showing India in darkness, unaware of scientific knowledge and progress. He spoke of examples of India’s achievements which included Aryabhatta’s work on the solar system. “Therefore, we have suggested that the classical period of Indian History be taught in schools along with medieval and modern periods,” Issac said, according to the HT report.
Isaac is a former member of the faculty at the history department in the Kottayam-based CMS College. He joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the RSS student wing, in 1975. He is now the working president of the Kerala unit of the RSS-linked think tank Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram, reports ThePrint.
The other members of the committee include ICHR chairperson Prof Raguvendra Tanwar (Retd), Prof Vandana Mishra of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Vasant Shinde, former vice-chancellor of Deccan College Deemed University, and Mamta Yadav, who teaches sociology at a Haryana government school, the report says.
The NCERT is revising the curriculum in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
How have political parties reacted to the NCERT panel’s suggestions?
Congress leader Priyank Kharge, while speaking about the Centre’s move to change the name of the country in NCERT books, said, “This move was very evident. The government is on a name-changing spree. No game-changing scheme is happening, only name-changing schemes are happening. Why the sudden hatred for the name INDIA? Why did they wait for nine years?”
Critcisting the recommendation, Karnataka deputy chief minister DKShivakumar said, “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… I think something wrong has happened to this government… Why are they confusing the minds of Indians?”
#WATCH | On NCERT panel recommendation of replacing ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’ in school textbooks, Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar says, “Why are we saying the Reserve Bank of India, Indian Administrative Service and Indian Foreign Service? In our passports, we have the Republic of… pic.twitter.com/HROiNblTAF
— ANI (@ANI) October 25, 2023
“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...”
With inputs from agencies
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