SAD claims chapters on Sikh gurus ‘expunged’; CM refutes
CHANDIGARH: THE Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday claimed that chapters on Sikh gurus have been “expunged” from Class-12 history books of the state education board, but chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh dismissed as “malicious” the opposition party’s allegation.
SAD spokesman and former education minister Daljit Singh Cheema sought a high-level probe and stern action against the alleged development in the PSEB books. “It is shocking that the state’s own school board has expunged history makers of Punjab from history books of Punjab,” said Cheema.
There were 23 chapters carrying information about Sikh gurus, warriors and historical facts about Punjab in the Class 12 history book, the SAD leader said, claiming the content “has been replaced with a half-page description about the glorious period of the Sikh history”.
However, lambasting SAD leaders for trying to spread “misinformation” on a sensitive religious issue, the CM said the fact is that the courses have “merely been realigned with the NCERT syllabus to enable the students from Punjab to compete at the national level”. He added it is clear that “not a single chapter, nor a word, had been deleted by the Board”. The history chapters had been now spread across Classes 11 and 12, on the recommendation of an expert committee, which had a representative from the SGPC, he added.
Since the committee had felt that students should be exposed to Sikh history from Class 11 itself, chapters on Punjab and Sikh history had been shifted to Class 11, while India and modern history as well as modern Sikh history have been moved to Class 12, the CM said. As per the committee’s recommendations, the PSEB earlier restructured the physics and chemistry courses, he explained. Far from removing any chapter on the Sikh gurus, the Board, under his directives, has incorporated chapters on the lives of the four Sahibzadas of Guru Gobind Singh in textbooks to ensure youngsters also learn of their sacrifices, he said.