Popular actor R Madhavan who plays the role of the antagonist Akshay Kumar’s Kesari Chapter 2, in an interview with News 18 recently commented on the NCERT textbook revisions. After the section of Mughal Empire was deleted from Class 7 textbook, the actor questioned, “I might get into trouble for saying this, but I’ll still say it. When I studied history in school, there were eight chapters on the Mughals, two on the Harappa and Mohenjo-daro civilisations, four on British rule and the freedom struggle, and just one chapter on the southern kingdoms — the Cholas, Pandyas, Pallavas, and Cheras”.
The National Council of Eductional Research and Training (NCERT) has removed key sections on the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal Empire, caste system, and social movements from the Class 7 history textbook. New additions highlight government schemes like Make in India and Beti Bachao, and cultural topics like Char Dham pilgrimages.
“The British and the Mughals ruled us for close to 800 years, but the Chola Empire is 2,400 years old,” Madhavan claimed. He further added, “They were pioneers of sea travel and naval power. They had spice routes that extended to Rome. Where’s that part of our history? Where’s the mention of us building temples all the way to Angkor Wat with our mighty naval forces? Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism spread to China. People in Korea speak half Tamil because that’s how far our language reached. And we encapsulated all of this in just one chapter.”
He further questioned who decided the syllabus for the students and the second-hand narrative set for them. Furthermore, he expressed how the British Government created a “false narrative” of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, putting the onus of fault on the Indians who died. To this he cleverly added that he shouldn’t be getting into trouble for stating the facts.
Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of the Jallianwala Bagh is a film which marks the 106th anniversary of the horrific event in Indian history. As per Madhavan the film “sets the narrative right” and how they are not mere “creative liberties” taken by the team. Based on C. Sankaran’s biography, the lawyer who took the British to court, General Dyer was truly accountable for the massacre.
Currently, the NCERT textbooks carry the content on Mughals and Delhi Sultanate. However, they are to integrate a new chapter called “How the Land became Sacred” which will emphasise on jyotirlingas, Char Dham yatra, Shakti pithas and sacred geographies. These changes align with the New Education Policy (NEP) and the National Curriculum Framework (NCFSE) 2023. It has been clarfified that more revisions and changes are expected.