11-14-2006, 10:55 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Detoxification is history </b>
Pioneer.com
Leftists and assorted 'pinkos' who criticised the NDA for rewriting history are silent when UPA does the same to gain politically, says JS Rajput
<b>The vindictive hype of 'detoxification', 'de-saffronisation' and 'de-Talibanisation' of education seems over. Those who fought against the removal of nine 'controversial, distorted and incorrect' passages from history textbooks in 2001 are in the process of removing 75 passages. History repeats itself. This unprecedented U-turn is not unexpected for those pronounced 'guilty' of 'communalising school education in India' like this writer.</b>
Within 24 hours of the Haryana Chief Minister calling on Minister for Human Resource Development, CB-SE issued an advisory to all the affiliated schools not to use certain portions from the history books concerning Jats. It was that simple. The Jats, predominantly from Haryana, and also from Punjab and UP, had threatened to launch an agitation if biased, incorrect, and derogatory portions in history textbooks concerning them were not removed.
The Chief Minister saw the political import of the issue and acted fast. The Union Ministry had no alternative but to act. The CBSE Chairman, working under instructions, pontificated, "This portion has been excluded from classroom teaching and no questions will be set in any internal tests or board examination to evaluate students' understanding of the content of the various portions in future."
<b>The deleted portion reported in the media reads: "After the death of Aurangzeb, they (the Jats) created disturbances all around Delhi. Though originally a peasant uprising, the Jat revolt, led by zamindars, soon became predatory. They plundered all and sundry... They took active part in court intrigues at Delhi, often changing sides to suit their own advantage." </b>
The UPA Government had launched a vigorous campaign against 'communalisation' and 'saffronisation' of education, consequent to removal of nine passages in 2001. Interestingly, the first shot was fired by Delhi Government, which removed a passage concerning Guru Tegh Bahadur. NCERT followed suit. In 2004-05, old history books were reprinted hurriedly, expunged passages duly protected, and distributed as 'reference books' to all the CBSE schools.
This was an unprecedented act in the history of school education in the name of 'secularism'. It was pointed out by NCERT in the<b> Delhi High Court on November 7, 2006, that out of 75 paragraphs pointed out as objectionable and derogatory, 46 have already been removed, 21 shall be removed in the next year and the remaining eight in the academic year 2007-08. </b>The much-hyped detoxification now stands mutilated.
<b>None from the self-proclaimed number ones in 'national print media' or 'the fastest and the best' in the electronic media even cursorily recalled the removal of passages in 2001. CBSE could have honestly informed the people why these were brought back in 2004 and how these are being deleted again, as "passages in respect of which there is some reservation and objection". If the deletions in 2001 were communal, and bringing it back in 2004 was secular, then how does one describe the fresh removal in 2006?</b>
<b>The double standards of Marxist-Stalinists are well documented. They enjoy enormous clout in the present Government. It is now clear that the Ministry was overwhelmed by the Leftist propaganda in its initial days and said 'yes' to practically every item on their 'wish-list'. </b>Can any one forget that in July 2004 they successfully got a book on Vedanta by Dr Karan Singh 'banned'? A book on Thirukkural, prepared for teachers, met with the same fate. They had shouted themselves hoarse that removal of paragraphs in 2001 was condemnable. Their quiet approval to the removal of passages from the much-loved history books in 2006 confirms their hypocrisy.
Mainstream print and electronic media, which brought out full-page supplements and conducted television debates on changes in history books in 2000-02, today appear to have forgotten all about distortion of history and the campaign launched against NCERT. The UPA's criticism of the educational changes initiated under the NDA was for its political survival. It reversed these in 2004. <b>Today, UPA is doing what the NDA had done in 2000. </b>In politics, they say, there are no permanent friends or foes. <b>UP local bodies election results have sent signals to both UPA and NDA. Are new alignments in offing</b>. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pioneer.com
Leftists and assorted 'pinkos' who criticised the NDA for rewriting history are silent when UPA does the same to gain politically, says JS Rajput
<b>The vindictive hype of 'detoxification', 'de-saffronisation' and 'de-Talibanisation' of education seems over. Those who fought against the removal of nine 'controversial, distorted and incorrect' passages from history textbooks in 2001 are in the process of removing 75 passages. History repeats itself. This unprecedented U-turn is not unexpected for those pronounced 'guilty' of 'communalising school education in India' like this writer.</b>
Within 24 hours of the Haryana Chief Minister calling on Minister for Human Resource Development, CB-SE issued an advisory to all the affiliated schools not to use certain portions from the history books concerning Jats. It was that simple. The Jats, predominantly from Haryana, and also from Punjab and UP, had threatened to launch an agitation if biased, incorrect, and derogatory portions in history textbooks concerning them were not removed.
The Chief Minister saw the political import of the issue and acted fast. The Union Ministry had no alternative but to act. The CBSE Chairman, working under instructions, pontificated, "This portion has been excluded from classroom teaching and no questions will be set in any internal tests or board examination to evaluate students' understanding of the content of the various portions in future."
<b>The deleted portion reported in the media reads: "After the death of Aurangzeb, they (the Jats) created disturbances all around Delhi. Though originally a peasant uprising, the Jat revolt, led by zamindars, soon became predatory. They plundered all and sundry... They took active part in court intrigues at Delhi, often changing sides to suit their own advantage." </b>
The UPA Government had launched a vigorous campaign against 'communalisation' and 'saffronisation' of education, consequent to removal of nine passages in 2001. Interestingly, the first shot was fired by Delhi Government, which removed a passage concerning Guru Tegh Bahadur. NCERT followed suit. In 2004-05, old history books were reprinted hurriedly, expunged passages duly protected, and distributed as 'reference books' to all the CBSE schools.
This was an unprecedented act in the history of school education in the name of 'secularism'. It was pointed out by NCERT in the<b> Delhi High Court on November 7, 2006, that out of 75 paragraphs pointed out as objectionable and derogatory, 46 have already been removed, 21 shall be removed in the next year and the remaining eight in the academic year 2007-08. </b>The much-hyped detoxification now stands mutilated.
<b>None from the self-proclaimed number ones in 'national print media' or 'the fastest and the best' in the electronic media even cursorily recalled the removal of passages in 2001. CBSE could have honestly informed the people why these were brought back in 2004 and how these are being deleted again, as "passages in respect of which there is some reservation and objection". If the deletions in 2001 were communal, and bringing it back in 2004 was secular, then how does one describe the fresh removal in 2006?</b>
<b>The double standards of Marxist-Stalinists are well documented. They enjoy enormous clout in the present Government. It is now clear that the Ministry was overwhelmed by the Leftist propaganda in its initial days and said 'yes' to practically every item on their 'wish-list'. </b>Can any one forget that in July 2004 they successfully got a book on Vedanta by Dr Karan Singh 'banned'? A book on Thirukkural, prepared for teachers, met with the same fate. They had shouted themselves hoarse that removal of paragraphs in 2001 was condemnable. Their quiet approval to the removal of passages from the much-loved history books in 2006 confirms their hypocrisy.
Mainstream print and electronic media, which brought out full-page supplements and conducted television debates on changes in history books in 2000-02, today appear to have forgotten all about distortion of history and the campaign launched against NCERT. The UPA's criticism of the educational changes initiated under the NDA was for its political survival. It reversed these in 2004. <b>Today, UPA is doing what the NDA had done in 2000. </b>In politics, they say, there are no permanent friends or foes. <b>UP local bodies election results have sent signals to both UPA and NDA. Are new alignments in offing</b>. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->