Rejoinder: Not true, RSS has no role whatsoever in preparing NCERT textbooks

By Michel Danino*
Prof. Shamsul Islam has been writing mendacious and slanderous articles about the new NCERT Social Science textbooks in Muslim Mirror (click August 8 and August 20). In Counterview these appear to be their shortened versions (August 9 and August 21).
In both articles, Prof. Islam alleges that the new textbooks were prepared under the control of the RSS. This is a baseless claim, and I felt compelled to respond with the following rejoinder:
In these writings, apart from his heavily distorted comments on the new NCERT Social Science textbooks—books he has clearly not read in full—he has indulged in slander, calumny, and language that at times borders on hate speech.
First, his allegation that the new textbooks were prepared “under the influence of RSS” is an outright falsehood. He offers no evidence, because there is none—except in his imagination. I have repeatedly clarified that our team prepared these textbooks without any political or ideological interference.
Our sole mandate was to follow the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023 (NCF-SE 2023), two major documents designed to bring transformative changes in education. Prof. Islam has evidently not read them. Our team was given full freedom to develop the material, which went through multiple reviews by experts, colleagues, and teachers. The RSS has no role whatsoever in this process.
Secondly, he has sought to demonize me personally as “a Hindutva supporter,” once again without the slightest evidence. I have nothing to do with Hindutva. My academic contributions—many published internationally—are available for all to see on my Academia.edu page.
Impartial readers have often remarked that my work, unlike Prof. Islam’s, presents a diversity of viewpoints before arriving at an argument, and does so in a polite, respectful manner. Much of my work deals with aspects of Indian civilization, which perhaps he regards as a crime.
Lastly, Prof. Islam cannot even get his basic facts right. In his August 20 article, whose shorter version was published in Counterview on August 21, he claims that I “supervised” the recent NCERT modules on Partition. This is entirely false. Neither I nor my Social Science team had anything to do with those modules or others of that kind. In fact, I have not yet even had the opportunity to read them.
It is regrettable that such misrepresentation and abuse is being published, which hardly fits the definition of a “Counterview.”
Counterview's guidelines to contributors state that content “should not be derogatory, should not incite hate.” Publishers, including online platforms such as Counterview, are legally bound to ensure that the material they carry does not contain false, deliberately misleading, slanderous, or defamatory statements.
---
*Guest Professor, Earth Sciences Dept., IIT Gandhinagar. https://es.iitgn.ac.in/faculty/michel-danino, https://iitgn.academia.edu/MichelDanino, https://www.youtube.com/@micheldanino1956

Comments

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

1857 War of Independence... when Hindu-Muslim separatism, hatred wasn't an issue

"The Sepoy Revolt at Meerut", Illustrated London News, 1857 By Shamsul Islam* Large sections of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs unitedly challenged the greatest imperialist power, Britain, during India’s First War of Independence which began on May 10, 1857; the day being Sunday. This extraordinary unity, naturally, unnerved the firangees and made them realize that if their rule was to continue in India, it could happen only when Hindus and Muslims, the largest two religious communities were divided on communal lines.

From triple centurion to master coach: Bob Simpson’s enduring legacy

By Harsh Thakor* Former Australia cricket captain and coach Bob Simpson has died in Sydney aged 89. He leaves behind an indelible legacy, having shaped Australian cricket for more than four decades as a player, captain and coach. Beyond the field, he also served the game as a law-maker, referee and commentator, carving a permanent niche among the all-time greats of Australian cricket.

Spirit of leadership vs bondage: Of empowered chairman of 100-acre social forestry coop

By Gagan Sethi* This is about Khoda Sava, a young Dalit belonging to the Vankar sub-caste, who worked as a bonded labourer in a village near Vadgam in Banskantha district of North Gujarat. The year was 1982. Khoda had taken a loan of Rs 7,000 from the village sarpanch, a powerful landlord doing money-lending as his side business. Khoda, who had taken the loan for marriage, was landless. Normally, villagers would mortgage their land if they took loan from the sarpanch. But Khoda had no land. He had no option but to enter into a bondage agreement with the sarpanch in order to repay the loan. Working in bondage on the sarpanch’s field meant that he would be paid Rs 1,200 per annum, from which his loan amount with interest would be deducted. He was also obliged not to leave the sarpanch’s field and work as daily wager somewhere else. At the same time, Khoda was offered meal once a day, and his wife job as agricultural worker on a “priority basis”. That year, I was working as secretary...

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Fate of Yamuna floodplain still hangs in "balance" despite National Green Tribunal rap on Sri Sri event

By Ashok Shrimali* While the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday reportedly pulled up the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for granting permission to hold spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Culture Festival on the banks of Yamuna, the chief petitioners against the high-profile event Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan has declared, the “fate of the floodplain still hangs in balance.”

Two more "aadhaar-linked" Jharkhand deaths: 17 die of starvation since Sept 2017

Kaleshwar's sons Santosh and Mantosh Counterview Desk A fact-finding team of the Right to Feed Campaign, pointing towards the death of two more persons due to starvation in Jharkhand, has said that this has happened because of the absence of aadhaar, leading to “persistent lack of food at home and unavailability of any means of earning.” It has disputed the state government claims that these deaths are due to reasons other than starvation, adding, the authorities have “done nothing” to reduce the alarming state of food insecurity in the state.

Proposed Modi yatra from Jharkhand an 'insult' of Adivasi hero Birsa Munda: JMM

Counterview Desk The civil rights network, Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JMM), which claims to have 30 grassroots groups under its wings, has decided to launch Save Democracy campaign to oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vikasit Bharat Sankalp Yatra to be launched on November 15 from the village of legendary 19th century tribal independence leader Birsa Munda from Ulihatu (Khunti district).

Counterview

Search This Blog