-The Hindu Shahi Imam of Fatehpuri mosque demands withdrawal of Textbooks Even as the controversy over political cartoons in school Textbooks is yet to subside, the Muslim community here has objected to two illustrations and the text of a chapter in the Class XI history book published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training under the National Curriculum Framework-2007. Shahi Imam of the Fatehpuri mosque Mohammad Mukarram Ahmed has written to...
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Aseem Trivedi's arrest shows how colonial-era sedition laws lend themselves to abuse
-The Times of India Normally, a cartoon makes us smile. But that's changing now, as the arrest of cartoonist Aseem Trivedi on charges of sedition has provoked angry criticism across society. The arrest contravenes the Indian citizen's right to freedom of speech and expression. Importantly, this is a right the Constitution, constructed by the founders of an independent Indian republic, guarantees. Sedition, on the other hand, is a repressive colonial law,...
More »Indira cartoon that offended Sonia not among three NCERT panel wants dropped-Anubhuti Vishnoi
-The Indian Express In contrast to the Thorat committee report which had recommended removal of over 20 cartoons from NCERT Textbooks, the NCERT’s textbook development committee and national monitoring committee have listed only three-four cartoons for removal. However, the cartoon that is reported to have offended UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is not in the list, leaving the Kapil Sibal-led HRD ministry in a spot. Highly placed sources said the ministry has asked...
More »Curious ways of the Thorat committee-MSS Pandian
-The Hindu The textbook review panel left much to be desired in ensuring participation in its deliberations, says a dissenting member As a member of the NCERT committee on social science Textbooks headed by Professor Sukhadeo Thorat, I have consciously kept away from the media so far. This was so, despite my dissenting note being made public. Now that Prof. Thorat has chosen to describe me as a ‘non-participant member’ of the...
More »Learning from a controversy-Sukhdeo Thorat
-The Hindu The insights in the NCERT cartoon report can help to make the curriculum and the classroom more inclusive While the NCERT Textbooks report has generated much heat, it has also shed positive light on the issue. It is time to reflect on this side of the debate and deal with the questions it raises. The committee’s mandate was to identify educationally inappropriate materials in Textbooks and suggest alternatives, if necessary. The...
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