-The Hindu The following is an extract from the NCERT's political science (Class XII) textbook that has sparked a controversy due to a cartoon depicting the anti-Hindi agitation of 1965. (According to Yogendra Yadav, former chief adviser to the NCERT on the preparation of the textbook, a reading of the text accompanying the cartoon would show that the chapter was not aimed at denigrating the anti-Hindi agitation, but was actually a...

Of late, a childhood friend's 80-year-old mother has taken to writing. Emboldened by her single-mindedness, memories dulled by a lifetime of contingencies now respond readily to the daily rustle of pen on paper. One memory stands out in Surjit Kaur's mind. In 1957, as a fresh eyed schoolteacher from Delhi she went on an educational tour to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. It was 10 years after Independence...

Books, cartoons and judgments are being discussed thoroughly from highest bodies of liberal democracy like Parliament to constituents of public sphere i.e. print to media artefacts. Primarily, there are two standpoints regarding inclusion/exclusion of cartoons in NCERT Books (political science). Inclusionary argument is based on idea of deliverance of great service to B.R.Ambedkar while emphasising his teachings, ideas and place in the book. Exclusionary argument is based on cartoon itself...

-The Indian Express Hurt over Ambedkar cartoon is understandable. But Babasaheb wouldn’t approve of the response Parliament was disrupted by the newly-noticed presence of an old Shankar cartoon in an NCERT political science textbook, that purportedly insulted B.R. Ambedkar. Ram Vilas Paswan demanded that those who permitted the cartoon’s publication be hauled up under the Prevention of Atrocities Act, Mayawati threatened to stall Parliament until action was taken. HRD minister Kapil Sibal...

The Sangh Parivar is systematically following its “Indianisation reforms” in schools run by its affiliates. THE attempts of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS)-led Sangh Parivar at “saffronising” education attracted widespread attention between 1998 and 2004 when the Hindutva combine's political arm, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), held the reins of power at the Centre. During that period, especially between 1998 and 2002, the BJP's Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi...