Debate ensues as India removes references to Babri Masjid, Gujarat riots in revised textbook

India has begun to whitewash its history, making multiple changes to its textbooks that glosses over many uncomfortable events in their history while glorifying recent pro-Hindu changes in their country.

Specifically NCERT - India's National Council for Education Research and Training - has changed all references of Babri Masjid, its destruction and the riots that followed, the Gujarat riots of 2002, as well as how these events are connected to the rise of 'Hindutva', an ideology espousing Hindu Nationalism and the establishment of a Hindu hegemony in India.

The NCERT is responsible for the textbooks used under their Central Board of Secondary Education, which currently has around 30,000 schools across India affiliated.

Here are some examples of the changes being made:

Democratic Rights:

• Original: "Many cases of human rights violations in diverse fields, for instance, Gujarat riots, are being brought to the public notice from across India."
• Updated: "Many cases of human rights violations in diverse fields are being brought to the public notice from across India."

Understanding Marginalisation:

• Original: "According to 2011 census, Muslims are 14.2% of India's population and are considered to be a marginalised community in India today because in comparison to other communities, they have over the years been deprived of the benefits of socio-economic development."
• Updated: "According to 2011 census, Muslims are 14.2% of India's population and are considered to be a marginalised community because of their having comparatively lower status of socio-economic development."
• Original: "Often this becomes an excuse to treat them unfairly and discriminate against them. This social marginalisation of Muslims in some instances has led to them migrating from places where they have lived, often leading to the ghettoisation of the community. Sometimes, this prejudice leads to hatred and violence."
• Updated: "Sometimes, this prejudice has also led to hatred and violence."

These are just a few changes from a long list, but the pattern is already clear. Much of the references that previously explicitly explained the plight of muslims and other religious minorities, the inequalities that exist as well as the roots of the political ideology that dominates India today have been removed or altered to make the plights of minorities less sympathetic while also espousing or white washing the Hindutva movement.

Already accusations of saffronisation have begun, and just as quickly denied. Saffronisation is the right-wing policy that aims to promote a Hindu nationalist agenda, including changes to school textbooks. Critics use this term to describe efforts by Hindu nationalist governments to highlight Hindu contributions to Indian history while minimising others.

NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Saklani on Sunday rejected such charges, according to the Hindustan Times. 

When asked why the Babri Masjid is not mentioned by name but instead referred to as a 'three-domed structure'. Saklani, who took over as NCERT director in 2022, said references to Babri Masjid demolition and 2002 Gujarat riots can "create violent and depressed citizens", a PTI report added.

"Why should we teach about riots in school textbooks? We want to create positive citizens, not violent and depressed individuals," he told PTI.

Saklani added, "Should we teach our students in a manner that they become offensive, create hatred in society or become victims of hatred? Is that education's purpose? Should we teach about riots to such young children ... when they grow up, they can learn about it but why school textbooks?"

"Let them understand what happened and why it happened when they grow up. The hue and cry about the changes is irrelevant," the NCERT director told PTI.