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NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 12, 2004: How old is the Indian civilization? If a student in Rajasthan says 6000 bce and another in Delhi says 2500 bce – both are correct, thanks to vastly different textbooks resulting out of rival regimes. (HPI adds: The 6000 bce date is the result of recent scholarship; that of 2500 bce a date set by 19th century historians.) This is a scenario depicting the confusion arising out of Indian children learning different versions of history — depending on the political party in charge in their respective regions.



Bitter political rivalry between the ideologically opposed Congress, the communists and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has led to a deeply confusing state of affairs whereby different states will teach different textbooks. While the Congress-led ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is determined to remove the new textbooks issued by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) under the previous BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime during 1998-2004, BJP-ruled states have vowed to defy the move and retain the books.



The new books (meaning the ones brought in under the BJP, not the replacement texts now being instituted) have brought sweeping changes in content as well as interpretations: The independence movement according to the new books is not as grand and widespread, informs the BJP-inspired course. The British pulled out of India due to their internal weaknesses and external pressures. The BJP believes that the Indian civilization has an 8,000-year history dating back to the Neolithic era, although the Congress-prescribed course dates the Indus Valley civilization at 2500-2000 B.C. The new textbooks mention the mythical Hindu paradise and abode of the gods “Vaikuntha” as a geographical entity. They also project the Sultanate era of Delhi (which ruled nearly all of India) as one of “unparalleled exploitation” although leftist historians who wrote the previous books say there was no proof the exploitation was less than before.



HPI is continuing to follow this controversy, especially to detail the exact nature of the changes from the old textbooks to the new in the course of the current rewriting. Any assistance would be appreciated (e-mail ar@hindu.org).

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