‘Bharat’, ‘India’ used interchangeably in textbooks, debate on this issue is useless: NCERT chief, ET Education

New Delhi, ‘Bharat’ and ‘India’ will be used interchangeably in NCERT textbooks as is the case in the country’s constitution, said Director of the National Council for Educational Research and Training Dinesh Prasad Saklani. The comments assume significance in the wake of a high-level panel working on the social studies curriculum, which recommended replacing the word “India” with “Bharat” in school textbooks for all grades. Talking to PTI editors at the agency’s headquarters, the NCERT chief said that both the words would be used in the books and the board had no animosity towards either ‘Bharat’ or ‘India’.

“It is interchangeable… our position is what our constitution says and we stand by that. We can use Bharat, we can use India, what’s the problem? We are not participating in this debate. Wherever it is appropriate we will use India, wherever it is appropriate we will use Bharat. We have no animosity towards India or Bharat,” he said.

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“You can see that both concepts are already used in our textbooks and this will continue in the new textbooks. It’s a useless debate,” Saklani said.

The high-level committee on social studies, constituted by NCERT to revise the syllabus, had last year recommended replacing the word ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’ in textbooks for all classes.

Committee chairman C. I. Isaac, who headed the panel, said it was suggested that the name ‘India’ be replaced by ‘Bharat’ in textbooks, introduction of ‘classical history’ in the curriculum instead of ‘ancient history’ and inclusion of Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in the curriculum all subjects.

“The committee unanimously recommended that the name Bharat should be used in textbooks for students in various classes. Bharat is an old name. The name Bharat has been used in ancient texts like the Vishnu Purana, which is 7,000 years old, “Isaac told PTI.

NCERT further said that no decision was taken based on the panel’s recommendations.

The name Bharat made its official first appearance last year when the government sent out invitations to the G20 summit in the name of “President of Bharat” instead of “President of India”.

Later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nameplate at the New Delhi summit also read “Bharat” and not India.

NCERT has once again found itself at the center of controversy over its revised Class 12 Political Science textbook, which did not mention the Babri Mosque but called it a “three-domed structure”.

Recent deletions in textbooks include: BJP’s ‘rath yatra’ from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya; the role of kar sevaks; communal violence after the destruction of the Babri mosque; Presidential rule in BJP-ruled states; and the BJP’s expression of “regret over the events in Ayodhya.”

The new Year 11 political science textbook now says that political parties “give priority to the interests of a minority group” with an eye to “vote bank politics”, which leads to “minority appeasement”.

This marks a complete departure from what was taught until the 2023-2024 academic session – that if students “think hard” they will discover that there is “little evidence” to suggest that vote bank policies favor minorities in the country.

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