Tag: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

  • ‘What a disgrace’: Tharoor on removal of Maulana Azad references from NCERT textbook

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday slammed the government over the removal of references to India’s first education minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad in the new NCERT class 11 political science textbook, calling it a “disgrace”.

    References to freedom fighter and India’s first education minister Azad have been removed from the new class 11 political science textbook by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

    Tagging a media report on it, Tharoor, a former minister of state for human resource development, tweeted, “What a disgrace. I have no objection to adding neglected figures to the historical narrative, but deleting people, especially for the wrong reasons, is unworthy of our diverse democracy and its storied history.”

    As part of its “syllabus rationalisation” exercise last year, the NCERT, citing “overlapping” and “irrelevant” as reasons, dropped certain portions from the course including lessons on Gujarat riots, Mughal courts, Emergency, Cold War, Naxalite movement, among others from its textbooks.

    The rationalisation note had no mention of any changes in class 11 political science textbook.

    READ MORE | NCERT’s revision of textbooks part of ‘saffronisation’ agenda, says Kerala CM

    The NCERT has, however, claimed that no curriculum trimming has taken place this year and the syllabus was rationalised in June last year.

    “Certain changes not finding mention of in the rationalised content book could be an ‘oversight’,” NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani reiterated. In the class 11 political science 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.”

    ALSO READ | Historians, political leaders call out NCERT’s move to remove references to Gandhi, RSS, Godse

    NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday slammed the government over the removal of references to India’s first education minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad in the new NCERT class 11 political science textbook, calling it a “disgrace”.

    References to freedom fighter and India’s first education minister Azad have been removed from the new class 11 political science textbook by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

    Tagging a media report on it, Tharoor, a former minister of state for human resource development, tweeted, “What a disgrace. I have no objection to adding neglected figures to the historical narrative, but deleting people, especially for the wrong reasons, is unworthy of our diverse democracy and its storied history.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    As part of its “syllabus rationalisation” exercise last year, the NCERT, citing “overlapping” and “irrelevant” as reasons, dropped certain portions from the course including lessons on Gujarat riots, Mughal courts, Emergency, Cold War, Naxalite movement, among others from its textbooks.

    The rationalisation note had no mention of any changes in class 11 political science textbook.

    READ MORE | NCERT’s revision of textbooks part of ‘saffronisation’ agenda, says Kerala CM

    The NCERT has, however, claimed that no curriculum trimming has taken place this year and the syllabus was rationalised in June last year.

    “Certain changes not finding mention of in the rationalised content book could be an ‘oversight’,” NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani reiterated. In the class 11 political science 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.”

    ALSO READ | Historians, political leaders call out NCERT’s move to remove references to Gandhi, RSS, Godse

  • Congress chief Kharge visits Ambedkar’s memorial, Azad’s ‘mazaar’; pays homage to them

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday visited the memorial and ‘mazaar’ of B R Ambedkar and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, and paid tributes to the two freedom fighters and former Union ministers.

    After visiting Ambedkar’s memorial here, Kharge posted a quote of the former law minister and the chief architect of the Constitution on Twitter. “Bhakti in religion may be a road to the salvation of the soul. But in politics, Bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship. Visited Dr B.R. Ambedkar Memorial in Delhi today and paid floral tributes to Babasaheb,” Kharge, who took over as Congress chief on Wednesday, said in a tweet and posted pictures of him paying homage to Ambedkar at the memorial.

    Kharge also visited the ‘mazaar (grave)’ of Azad here and paid floral tributes to India’s first Education Minister.

    Mallikarjun Kharge paying tributes to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad at his grave in New Delhi. (Photo | PTI)

    “Paid floral tributes to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad at his mazaar in Delhi. A revolutionary freedom fighter and India’s First Education Minister, he believed in our country’s democratic and secular credentials and strongly opposed the idea of partition on religious lines,” Kharge said on Twitter.

    Ahead of his taking over as Congress chief, Kharge had visited Rajghat on Wednesday and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi.

    He had also visited the memorials of former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and former deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram, and paid tributes to the leaders.

    On Wednesday, Kharge took charge as the Congress’ first non-Gandhi president in 24 years, citing Rahul Gandhi’s slogan “daro mat” to energise workers and declaring that the party will demolish the government’s “system of lies, treachery and hatred”.

    Kharge, 80, had defeated Shashi Tharoor to win the Congress presidential election, to succeed Sonia Gandhi.

    NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday visited the memorial and ‘mazaar’ of B R Ambedkar and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, and paid tributes to the two freedom fighters and former Union ministers.

    After visiting Ambedkar’s memorial here, Kharge posted a quote of the former law minister and the chief architect of the Constitution on Twitter. “Bhakti in religion may be a road to the salvation of the soul. But in politics, Bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship. Visited Dr B.R. Ambedkar Memorial in Delhi today and paid floral tributes to Babasaheb,” Kharge, who took over as Congress chief on Wednesday, said in a tweet and posted pictures of him paying homage to Ambedkar at the memorial.

    Kharge also visited the ‘mazaar (grave)’ of Azad here and paid floral tributes to India’s first Education Minister.

    Mallikarjun Kharge paying tributes to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad at his grave in New Delhi. (Photo | PTI)

    “Paid floral tributes to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad at his mazaar in Delhi. A revolutionary freedom fighter and India’s First Education Minister, he believed in our country’s democratic and secular credentials and strongly opposed the idea of partition on religious lines,” Kharge said on Twitter.

    Ahead of his taking over as Congress chief, Kharge had visited Rajghat on Wednesday and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi.

    He had also visited the memorials of former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and former deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram, and paid tributes to the leaders.

    On Wednesday, Kharge took charge as the Congress’ first non-Gandhi president in 24 years, citing Rahul Gandhi’s slogan “daro mat” to energise workers and declaring that the party will demolish the government’s “system of lies, treachery and hatred”.

    Kharge, 80, had defeated Shashi Tharoor to win the Congress presidential election, to succeed Sonia Gandhi.