12 Mar 2009  |   12:00am IST

NCERT lambasted for distortion of history in textbook

PANJIM, MARCH 11 The National Council of Educational Research and Training's (NCERT) seventh standard textbook has come under scanner of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, which has demanded a ban on it.

PANJIM, MARCH 11
The National Council of Educational Research and Training's (NCERT) seventh standard textbook has come under scanner of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, which has demanded a ban on it.
Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) will launch Maharashtra and Goa state level agitations against NCERT textbook, which has allegedly distorted the historical facts.
'The massive agitation, which will span across both these states, will begin on March 13. The further course of action would be decided subsequently,' HJS Convenor Jayesh Thali told reporters here.
The HJS, which in recent past had protested against Oscar winning movie `Slumdog Millionaire', has submitted a memorandum to Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education insisting ban on the textbook.
The agitators stated that seventh standard textbook introduced from the last academic year has ignored the importance of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the history and instead has glorified Muslim rulers like Babur, Humayun,
Akbar, Jahangir, Shahajahan and Aurangzeb.
They contend that the controversial textbook has devoted hardly four lines to Maratha worrier Shivaji Maharaj. 'Shivaji Maharaj has been relegated to insignificant position in the book. Again strangely, the name of Maharana Pratap does not figure in the Rajput history,' Thali said.
The HJS last year had launched agitation against History and Civics textbooks of standard tenth, which had distorted the facts.
The agitation had forced Goa government to withdraw the textbook.