BJP leader Kapil Mishra praises NCERT’s decision to remove Mughal history from textbooks

New Delhi (India), April 4, 2023: BJP leader Kapil Mishra has praised the decision of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to remove certain chapters on the Mughal Empire from class 12 history textbooks.

Mishra claimed that “thieves” were being referred to as Mughal rulers and that the initiative would shed light on the “truth.” The revised textbooks will be part of the state board and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) school syllabus in Uttar Pradesh starting with the current academic year.

According to NCERT, the reasons for skipping the portions as part of ‘syllabus rationalization” include “overlap, irrelevance, and ease of topic.” The erased chapters are related to ‘Kings and Chronicles: The Mughal Courts (C. 16th and 17th centuries)’ from the book ‘Themes of Indian History, Part II’.

In a follow-up tweet, Mishra added that “The false claims of the Mughal empire were being rectified and that their ‘loot, adultery, atrocities, cowardice, hatred of temples and idols, among other aspects, should also be taught.”

The move has sparked controversy and criticism from opposition parties, historians, and academics, who have accused the government of trying to rewrite history to suit its political agenda. This move also comes after parts of the Gujarat Riots and the National Human Rights Commission report on them were removed from the political science textbook.

‘Rise of popular movements’ and ‘Era of one-party dominance’ are the other omissions from the class 12 textbook ‘Politics in Indian since Independence’.