India’s first education minister, Maulana Azad’s reference omitted in NCERT textbook

References made India's first education minister, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad have been removed from the Class 11 political science textbooks under the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). The development comes amidst the controversy following the removal of references to Mahatma Gandhi's assassination and what he did after India got independence.

In the textbook's first chapter titled, 'Constitution-Why and How,' a line has been revised to omit Azad's name from the constituent assembly committee meetings.

The revised line now reads, "usually Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel or BR Ambedkar chaired these Committees."

The older version read, " the Constituent Assembly had eight major Committees on different subjects. Usually, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad or Ambedkar chaired these Committees. These were not men who agreed with each other on many things. Ambedkar had been a bitter critic of the Congress and Gandhi, accusing them of not doing enough for the upliftment of Scheduled Castes. Patel and Nehru disagreed on many issues. Nevertheless, they all worked together."

Further references to Jammu and Kashmir's conditional accession have also been removed from the same textbook. The book's tenth chapter titled 'The Philosophy of the Constitution has a line deleted from it.

The now deleted line read, " for example, the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the Indian union was based on a commitment to safeguarding its autonomy under Article 370 of the Constitution."

Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir was abrogated in August 2019. This ended the autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir which became a Union Territory.

In October 2019, the erstwhile state was bifurcated into two Union Territories. Elections are due in Jammu and Kashmir and would be held once the entire delimitation exercise is completed. All parties have been demanding the restoration of statehood status for Jammu and Kashmir. The Centre has said that it is not averse to the idea, but added that elections should be conducted first.