Ayodhya Ram temple chief priest flays NCERT over revised textbook, says…

Satyendra Das Maharaj, the chief priest of Ayodhya's Ram Janmabhoomi Temple, said on Monday that he was ‘dissatisfied’ with the commission of crucial events related to the Ayodhya movement in the newly revised Class 12 political science textbook of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

According to him, there are some ‘shortcomings’ in the new NCERT textbook regarding the Babri Masjid issue. "They do not mention how the three-domed structure was removed on December 6, 1992, they are only starting to narrate the issue from November 9, 2019, when the Ayodhya verdict was given," the chief priest told ANI on Sunday.

Satyendra Das Maharaj's remarks come after the NCERT's revised textbooks hit the market with numerous deletions and changes. In the Class 12 political science textbook, the Babri Masjid has been referred to as a ‘three-dome structure’.

The section on Ayodhya has been pruned from four to two pages and the textbook focuses on the 2019 Supreme Court judgment that paved the way for the temple's construction.

According to a PTI report, the ommissions in the textbook includes references to the BJP's 'rath yatra' from Somnath to Ayodhya in 1990, the role of kar sevaks, the demolition of Babri Masjid, President's rule in the BJP-ruled states and BJP's expression of “regret over the happenings at Ayodhya”.

The Ram temple chief priest added that the chapter reportedly does not provide details of the events on December 6, 1992 when the Babri Masjid was demolished or December 22, 1949 when Lord Ram Lalla's statue reportedly appeared at the mosque premises.

Earlier in the day, NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani rejected charges of ‘saffronising’ curriculum. He also defended the commission of 2002 Gujarat riots and Babri Masjid demolition, asking why should riots be taught in school textbooks.

(With ANI, PTI inputs)