NCERT changes Azad Pakistan to POJK, tweaks Chinese aggression mention in Class 12 books. Here are the latest changes so far

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on Monday tweaked the reference to 'Azad Pakistan' and added 'Chinese aggression' in political science textbooks for Class 12 students. As per the latest update to Class 12 political science textbooks, students will also have to study about the abrogation of Article 370.

The changes come after the educational organisation changed references to Gujarat riots and the Ayodhya dispute. Here's what has been changed in textbooks of late: 

1, Azad Kashmir, POJK: The reference to 'Azad Kashmir' has been replaced with Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. 

Page 119 of the existing version of the textbook reads: "India claims that this area is under illegal occupation. Pakistan describes this area as 'Azad Pakistan'."

The revised version of the textbook states: "However, it is the Indian territory which is under illegal occupation of Pakistan called Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir." As per the NCERT, this change was made in line with the latest position of the Government of India vis-a-vis Jammu and Kashmir. 

2. Abrogation of Article 370: The educational organisation included the abrogation of Article 370 in the new updated textbooks. Previously, Page 132 of the text book read: "While most of the states have equal powers, there are special provisions for some states like J&K and the states in the North-East."

The changed version reads: "While most of the states have equal powers, there are special provisions for states like J&K and the states in the North-East. However, Article 370, which contains special provisions for J&K, was abrogated in August 2019."

3. Chinese aggression: As part of Chapter 2 in the book Contemporary World Politics, the reference to India's border situation with China has been altered. Previously page 25 of the textbook mentioned: "However, military conflict over a border dispute between the two countries marred that hope."

The sentence has been revised to: "However, Chinese aggression on the Indian border has marred that hope."

4. Gujarat riots: In April this year, the NCERT dropped references to the killing of Muslims in Gujarat riots. Previously, the Class 11 chapter on Secularism mentioned that over 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were massacred during the 2002 riots in Gujarat. This has now been changed to "more than 1,000 persons were killed during the post Godhra riots in Gujarat in 2002."A reference to Gujarat riots was dropped in Chapter 5 titled Democratic Rights. 

5. Ayodhya dispute: BJP's rath yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya, the role of Kar Sevaks, communal violence in the wake of Babri Masjid demolition, President's rule in BJP-led states at the time and the saffron party's "regret over the happenings at Ayodhya" have all been removed from the textbooks. References to Hindutva were also dropped. 

Besides these changes, the NCERT has also removed a two-page table detailing the achievements of Mughal emperors including Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. Other crucial topics that have either changed or dropped include the ancient DNA found at Rakhigarhi, an Indus Valley site in Haryana, which calls for more research into whether the Harappans and the Vedic people were the same and rules out Aryan immigration. 

The NCERT also made some changes regarding emergency imposed during Indira Gandhi's reign and some references related to Indira Gandhi's assassination were also removed.