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Excerpts from Reports: 2005,
2004,
2003,
2002
The attempts to impose Hindu Supremacist theory in school texts are
not new and have been carried out earlier in India. Starting
in
2002, when the Hindu Nationalist party BJP was in power, the government
tried to change the school books to insert its particular sectarian and
Hindu chauvinist ideology (popular media referred to it as
"saffronizatoin of textbooks"), raising an international storm of
protest from scholars, intellectuals and secular governments all over
the world.
In
the US, these attempts to alter the texts have been carefully
documented by the International Religious Freedom reports on India that
were submitted to Congress each year starting from 2002 till the most
recent one in 2005. These reports are annual submissions to the
Congress through which the Department of State provides additional
detailed information regarding matters involving international
religious freedom in compliance with Section 102(b) of the
International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998.
These
reports for the relevant years have been excerpted below.
Briefly, the US IRF reports on India for the years 2002, 2003 and 2004
tell the story of the Indian government's attempt to impose a sectarian
view in the school texts and they also detail some of the controversies
surrounding this move. In 2004, new elections brought a new
government to New Delhi with a deeper commitment to
secularism.
The US IRF Reports for 2004 and 2005 describe efforts of the new
government to remove inaccuracies from the textbooks.
However, as
the latest report for 2005 shows, this is an onerous task and is still
on-going.
From: International
Religious Freedom Report 2005
Released
by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
URL
for the full report: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51618.htm
"...
The
previous NDA government, whose term ended in May 2004, prompted
criticism when it attempted to "saffronize" public education (i.e.,
make lessons consonant with the Hindu world view) by raising the
profile of Hindu cultural norms, views and historical personalities in
school textbooks and portraying other religions in a negative light.
The books are published by the Government's National Council of
Education Research and Training (NCERT), and are uniformly used in
government and private schools and printed in various languages.
After
the 2004 defeat of the NDA, the new UPA government pledged to
"de-saffronize" textbooks and curricula nationwide and to restore the
secular character of education. In March, the Government released new
NCERT textbooks, based on the texts used prior to the controversial
2002 updates. The Ministry of Human Resource Development, which oversaw
this project, stated that it had made only minor modifications to the
books that predated the "saffronized" era.
In
Delhi, the Directorate of Education, in collaboration with the State
Council of Educational Research and Training, prepared 47 new
textbooks, and other state governments are expected to do likewise. In
June 2004, a panel constituted by NCERT reviewed the new textbooks and
determined that they had poor content, shoddy presentation, and
significant amounts of irrelevant information. The panel recommended to
the Human Resource Development (HRD) minister that the new books not be
used until the defects could be resolved. Therefore, Delhi students are
now also using texts from the pre-"saffronized" period.
Excerpts
from Reports: 2005,
2004,
2003,
2002.
Back to Top
From: International
Religious Freedom Report 2004
Released
by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
URL
for the full report: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35516.htm
"...
In
late May, a new coalition, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), came
to power and pledged to "take immediate steps to reverse the trend of
communalization of education," which it said had occurred when the
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) governed India. Although the new UPA
government retained the new NCERT books introduced by the NDA
government for this academic year, they are currently being revised and
new texts, with corrected information, will be introduced in the next
academic year.
...
During
the NDA government, which ended in May, some senior government
officials advocated "saffronizing," or raising the profile of Hindu
cultural norms and views in public education, which has prompted
criticism from minority leaders, opposition politicians, academics, and
advocates of secular values. The Government's National Council of
Education Research and Training (NCERT) publishes textbooks that are
uniformly used in government and private schools and are printed in
various languages.
In
2002 the BJP Government announced its decision to rewrite existing
NCERT history textbooks, asserting that, "history needs to be presented
in a more refreshing and cogent manner." Secularists warned that the
re-written "history" spread misinformation to support Hindu nationalist
political aims, including false claims that the origins of Hinduism are
purely within the country, and Indian Muslims and Christians are
"foreigners." The BJP's decision was made without the input of the
Central Advisory Board of Education, a panel of experts responsible for
reviewing the quality of textbook and academic instruction. The board
has not been convened in 5 years.
In
January 2002,the National Human Rights Commission received a complaint
asking the Commission to examine the printing of new history textbooks,
which deleted references to Mahatma Gandhi's assassination in 1948 by a
member of the Hindu Mahasabha, a Hindutva organization banned following
the assassination. In May 2002, the education ministers of 16 states
walked out of a conference to protest the Hindutva bias of the new
curriculum, while 3 leading scholars filed a petition with the Supreme
Court challenging the publication of the new textbooks. However, the
petition was turned down, and the new textbooks appeared in November
2002. The imposition of examination boards reflecting the content of
the new textbooks forced schools to use them.
The
Congress-led government that came to power in May pledged to
"de-saffronize" textbooks and curriculums nationwide and to restore the
secular character of Indian education. In Delhi the Directorate of
Education, in collaboration with the State Council of Educational
Research and Training, prepared 47 new textbooks, stating they would be
ready by June 30; other state governments are expected to do likewise.
In June a panel constituted by NCERT reviewed these text books and
recommended to the Human Resource Development (HRD) minister that they
replace the current set, which the panel said had poor content, shoddy
presentation, and significant amounts of irrelevant information. At the
end of the period covered by this report, the HRD had not responded to
the suggestion.
Excerpts
from Reports: 2005,
2004,
2003,
2002.
Back to Top
From: International
Religious Freedom Report 2003
Released
by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
URL
for the full report: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2003/24470.htm
Some
government officials continue to advocate "saffronizing," or raising
the profile of Hindu cultural norms and views in public education,
which has prompted criticism from minority leaders, opposition
politicians, academics, and advocates of secular values. The
Government's National Council of Education Research and Training
(NCERT) publishes textbooks that are uniformly used in government and
private schools and are printed in various languages. In 2002 the
Government announced its decision to rewrite existing NCERT history
textbooks. The Government justified its decision by asserting that
"history needs to be presented in a more refreshing and cogent manner."
Secularists warned the re-written "history" spreads misinformation to
support Hindu nationalist political aims, including false claims that
the origins of Hinduism are purely in India and that Indian Muslims and
Christians are "foreigners." The Central Advisory Board of Education, a
panel of experts responsible for reviewing the quality of textbook and
academic instruction, has not been convened in 5 years. In January
2002, the National Human Rights Commission received a complaint asking
the Commission to examine the printing of new history textbooks, which
deleted references to Mahatma Gandhi's assassination by a member of the
Hindu Mahasabha, a Hindutva organization that was banned following the
assassination. In May 2002, the education ministers of 16 states walked
out of a conference to protest the Hindutva bias of the new curriculum,
while three leading scholars filed a petition with the Supreme Court
challenging the publication of the new textbooks. The petition was
turned down, however, and the new textbooks made their appearance in
November 2002. The imposition of examination boards in line with the
new textbooks forces schools to use the new syllabi. On January 31, the
Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD), headed by Dr. Murli
Manohar Joshi, passed strict academic guidelines to regulate academic
partnerships between Indian and western universities and academics, in
line with Hindutva philosophy. The new guidelines issued to all central
universities require HRD permission for "all forms of foreign
collaborations and other international academic exchange activities,"
including seminars, conferences, workshops, guest lectures, research,
etc. The Government maintains a list of banned books that may not be
imported or sold in the country, including books such as Salman
Rushdie's "Satanic Verses," which contain material that governmental
censors have deemed inflammatory. In March and April, the Indian
Central Board of Film Certification denied a censor certificate to
"Aakrosh," a film about the Gujarat riot victims.
Excerpts
from Reports: 2005,
2004,
2003,
2002.
Back to Top
From: International
Religious Freedom Report 2002
Released
by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
URL
for the full report: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2002/14023.htm
Some
Government officials continue to advocate "saffronizing," or raising
the profile of Hindu cultural norms and views in public education,
which has prompted criticism from minority leaders, opposition
politicians, academics, and advocates of secular values. During the
period covered by this report, the Government announced its decision to
rewrite existing National Council of Educational Research and Training
(NCERT) history textbooks. The Government justified its decision by
asserting that "history needs to be presented in a more refreshing and
cogent manner." In December 2001, the Human Resource Development
Ministry made changes to chapters on Jainism in a textbook on ancient
India without previously informing the author.
Excerpts
from Reports: 2005,
2004,
2003,
2002.
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