A new NCERT Class 8 social science textbook released on Monday notes that though Mahatma Gandhi and most Congress leaders had opposed the idea of Partition of the country in 1947, “they ended up accepting it as the only way forward, even though it was also clear that a certain proportion of Indian Muslims did not favour Partition”.
The old Class 8 history textbook had stated that a three-member mission sent by the British cabinet to Delhi to suggest a political framework for a free India “could not get the Congress and the Muslim League to agree to specific details of the proposal”, and “Partition now became more or less inevitable”. The old book had not pointed to Congress leaders accepting it as the only way forward.
In a chapter titled ‘India’s Long Road to Independence’, the new book — Exploring Society: India and Beyond Part 2 — covers the period after the 1857 revolt, all the way up to 1947, explaining the freedom movement, the Partition of Bengal, and the Partition of India.
Part 1 of the social science textbook for Class 8 was released in July last year.
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The textbook explains that historians have debated the causes for Britain’s exit from India, and “the earlier view was that it was mostly thanks to Gandhi, his doctrine of non-violence, and the Congress’s policies”, adding, “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,” it says.
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At the end of the section on Partition, the old Class 8 history book had only stated that “the joy of our country’s Independence from British rule came mixed with the pain and violence of Partition”.
The NCERT has been developing new textbooks in line with the National Education Policy 2020, and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023. Textbooks for Classes 1 to 8 have been developed so far.
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In a section on cultural currents that would play a part in the rise of nationalist feelings, the book refers to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s ‘Bande Mataram’ and features the first two stanzas of the song, asking students if they can “make out some of their meaning”.
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On the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919, the book states that “up to this day, despite many requests, the British government has not apologised for this atrocity, only describing it as a ‘deeply shameful event in British history’.” The old book does not mention requests for an apology.
On ‘Direct Action Day’, which was marked by the Muslim League in August 1946, “a wave of brutal communal violence submerged Calcutta – often encouraged by provocative speeches and pamphlets – leading to thousands of deaths as Muslim mobs attacked Hindus, who then retaliated. Thousands more were displaced. The violence created a deep sense of fear, making peaceful coexistence seemingly impossible and Partition unavoidable”, the new book states.
This is different from the old book, which only mentions that “riots broke out in Calcutta, lasting several days and resulting in the death of thousands of people”.
The new book also features a section on the ‘Paika Sangram’ – the rebellion of Odisha’s “traditional peasant militia” against the British in the 1800s. When Part 1 of the social science textbook was released in July last year, the NCERT had come under fire for skipping the uprisings against the British in some parts of the country. Former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik had pointed to the “omission” of the Paika rebellion from the textbook as a “huge dishonour” to the Paikas. The old class 8 textbook had described the Paika uprising.
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NCERT Director D P Saklani has not responded to a request for comment.
