‘Negative content’ needs to be removed from history textbooks: Maha BJP chief

Mumbai: Amid a row over the removal of certain references in NCERT’s new class 12 textbooks, BJP’s Maharashtra chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday said some people had deliberately written “negative content” in history textbooks and there was a need to drop it.

He also said that although he was against some “negative descriptions” in textbooks, facts need not be removed from them.

“Gandhiji’s death had magical effect on communal situation in the country”, “Gandhi’s pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity provoked Hindu extremists” and “Organisations like RSS were banned for some time” are among the portions missing from the class 12 political science textbook for the new academic session.

A political row has erupted over it with the Congress accusing the government of distorting history and “whitewashing with a vengeance”. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), however, claimed that no curriculum trimming has taken place this year and the syllabus was rationalised in June last year.

Answering a query on the issue during a press conference, Bawankule said, “Some people have deliberately written negative content in our history books. It needs to be removed.”

“Our country is marching ahead, progressing and going to be the greatest country in the world. There is no need for negative content,” he said.

After the press conference, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was asked about his remarks on the issue, he said he was making a general statement over it and not referring to any specific issue.

Replying to a question about why historical facts were being removed from textbooks, he said, “I am talking in general and not particularly about the omission of some chapters or issues. Facts need not be removed from history. My objection is about some negative descriptions.”