-The Hindu The petition against the Ambedkar-Nehru cartoon, published in The Hindu (“Humour is by no means exempt from prejudice”, June 8, 2012), makes for sad reading. Sad, because it bears the signatures of some of our best scholars, universally admired for their rigorous scholarship, who nevertheless chose to sign a petition short on facts. The petition asks the NCERT's Textbooks Review Committee to “reconsider the Ambedkar cartoon (and possibly other such...
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NCERT textbook cartoon stokes anger in Tamil Nadu by B Kolappan
It relates to the anti-Hindi agitation in the State; politicians say it depicts the student agitators in a poor light Just as the controversy over a cartoon on B.R. Ambedkar in a textbook prepared by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is settling down, another row has erupted over a cartoon in a class XII Political Science text book of the NCERT. The cartoon relates to the anti-Hindi...
More »Humour is by no means exempt from prejudice
-The Hindu A petition submitted to Prof. Sukhadeo Thorat, Chairperson, NCERT Textbooks Review Committee, by leading Dalit and non-Dalit writers, scholars and activists. When NCERT's Class XI Political Science textbook, Indian Constitution at Work , came to the attention of some Dalit activists, they objected to the manner in which the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, had been depicted riding a snail representing the Constitution, with...
More »Ambedkar, NCERT Textbooks and the Protests-Harish Wankhede
The cartoon controversy provides the possibility of interrogating the functioning of the academic system to understand its relationship with the downtrodden masses. A new deliberation is needed in order to make the academic world more sensitive and responsive towards the issues and concerns of the subaltern-oppressed communities. This will be an ethical incentive for the present-day dalit movement in India and can bring greater democratisation to the education system. Harish Wankhede...
More »NCERT book blanks out Ambedkar's role as the Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee-Chandra Bhan Prasad
Are Dalits turning intolerant? Are they emotional and scornful to reason? These are some of the questions the mainstream media asked, following the controversy over publication of an Ambedkar cartoon in an NCERT book. In the process, a new stereotype on Dalits may have been created. The authors of the NCERT book, 'Indian Constitution at Work,' are amazed at the response of 'emotional-devotional' Dalits. "They have not read the book," and...
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