NCERT book gets chapter on scrapping of Art 370
The NCERT has revised a chapter in the intermediate political science textbook to remove all content on the birth of separatist politics in Jammu and Kashmir. It has replaced content on separatist politics with electoral politics and abrogation of Article 370, which accorded special status to the erstwhile state. The new changes have been introduced in the chapter ‘Regional Aspirations’ in Class 12 political science textbook titled “Politics in India since Independence.”
On August 5 last year the Centre scrapped the state’s special status and divided it into two union territories – Ladakh with no Legislative Assembly and Jammu and Kashmir with one. The deleted portion read: “One strand of separatists who want a separate Kashmiri nation, independent of India and Pakistan. Then there are groups that want Kashmir to merge with Pakistan. Besides these, there is a third strand, which wants greater autonomy for the people of the state within the Indian union.”
The revised chapter talks about the President’s Rule imposed in June 2018 after the BJP withdrew its support to the Mehbooba Mufti government and towards the end mentions about the withdrawal of Article 370. It says, “Jammu and Kashmir had a special status under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. However, in spite of it, the region witnessed violence, cross-border terrorism and political instability with internal and external ramifications… The Article resulted in the loss of many lives, including that of innocent civilians, security personnel and militants. Besides, there was also a large scale displacement of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir valley.” The revised textbook takes into account the developments that took place in J & K from 2002 onward.
The NCERT has also removed a political cartoon that showed a dove (signifier of peace) injured with bullets. A comment by former J&K governor B.K. Nehru on the dismissal of Farooq Abdullah’s government has also been removed. The deleted comment said,“Kashmiris were convinced now at the second dethronement of their elected leader (in 1984) that India would never permit them to rule themselves.”
While defining Kashmiriyat, the new version has also removed the term “Kashmiri identity,” which was used in the older version. “The ‘Kashmir issue’ is not just a dispute between India and Pakistan. This issue has external and internal dimensions. It involves the issue of Kashmiri identity known as Kashmiriyat and the aspirations of the people of J&K for political autonomy,” the previous version had read.
As per the changes, Kashmiriyat is discussed in the section “Roots of the Problem” as “…The Pakistani leaders thought that Kashmir region ‘belonged’ to Pakistan since the majority population of the State was Muslim. But this is not how the people of the state themselves saw it— they thought of themselves as Kashmiris above all. This issue of regional aspiration is known as Kashmiriyat.”
While defining J & K’s three social and political regions — Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, the new chapter has dropped the line “The heart of the Kashmir region is the Kashmir Valley.”
● NEW CHAPTERS replaced content on separatist politics with electoral politics and abrogation of Article 370, which accorded special status to the erstwhile state