Use Bharat, not India in textbooks: NCERT panel

A high-level committee constituted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to revise the school curriculum has recommended that “India” should be replaced by “Bharat” in all textbooks, panel chairperson CI Issac announced on Wednesday, stoking a political controversy.

Issac, who heads the committee for social sciences, said the name change was part of the unanimous recommendations by the seven-member panel in its final position paper. Other recommendations included introducing classical history instead of ancient history as a component of the syllabus, and highlighting Hindu victories in battles over the centuries.

“Bharat is an age-old name. The use of the name Bharat finds its mention in ancient texts such as Vishnu Purana, which is 7,000 years old,” said Issac, who teaches history at CMS College in Kottayam and is closely linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

“The term India started being used commonly only after the establishment of the East India Company and the battle of Plassey in 1757. Therefore, the committee unanimously recommended that the name Bharat should be used in textbooks for students across classes,” he added.

The recommendations, which have been submitted to NCERT, will now be taken up by committees working on drafting textbooks that will be used by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and several state boards, reaching tens of millions of students across India.

NCERT chairperson Dinesh Saklani said no decision had been taken yet on the panel’s recommendations. “NCERT states that since the development of new syllabus and textbooks is in the process and for that purpose various curricular area groups of domain experts are being notified by the NCERT. So, it is too premature to comment,” the body wrote on X later.

The development marks the latest episode in an ongoing controversy over the name that began last month after an invitation for a G20 dinner sent out by President Droupadi Murmu in her capacity as “President of Bharat” instead of “President of India” set off furious speculation that such a move could be part of the legislative agenda in the special session of Parliament.

Days later, the nameplate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 Summit in New Delhi also read “Bharat” instead of “India”.

The special session later passed a historic bill setting aside seats for women in national and state legislatures but speculation around replacing India with Bharat has refused to die down.

Article 1(1) of the Constitution states “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States”.

The Opposition accused the government of election gimmicks and suggested that the name change was inspired by the 26-party grouping opposing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) calling themselves the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or INDIA.

Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar said that the word Indian was used for institutions like the Reserve Bank of India, Indian Administrative Service, and that the “Republic of India” was written on Indian passports.

“Who is saying that we are not Bharatiyas? But, we are also proud Indians. I think whatever stand they have taken is anti-people, anti-India and anti-Bharat,” Shivakumar said.

Issac said that the committee — one of the 25 formed by NCERT in 2021 to prepare position papers on various subjects and themes — recommended introducing classical history instead of ancient history in textbooks.

He said that the British divided Indian history into three phases — ancient, medieval and modern.

“The term ancient means old. The ancient era being taught presently paints a picture as though the country was in darkness and there was no scientific awareness during that time. However, there are so many examples of India’s achievements in that age including Aryabhatta’s work on the solar system model,” he said.

“Therefore, we have suggested that the classical period of Indian history be taught in schools along with medieval and modern periods,” Issac said.

He said that the committee also recommended highlighting Hindu victories in textbooks.

“Our failures are presently mentioned in the textbooks. But our victories over the Mughals and sultans are not,” said Issac, who is also a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR).

“For instance, the textbooks currently mention that Muhammad Ghori invaded India. However, there is little mention that before he could leave India, he was killed by the Kokari tribe,” he said.

Besides, the committee also recommended the introduction of the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in the curriculum of all subjects. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 emphasises on teaching the “rich heritage of ancient and eternal Indian knowledge and thought” as a guiding principle.

NCERT is revising the curriculum of the school textbooks in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The council has recently constituted a 19-member National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC) to finalise the curriculum, textbooks and learning material for these classes.

Issac joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the RSS’ student wing, in 1975. Currently, he is the state working president of the Kerala unit of the RSS-linked think tank Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram.

In the past, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had made a strong pitch for using Bharat instead of India.

BJP Lok Sabha member Parvesh Verma said last month that he was preparing a private member’s bill seeking to amend the Constitution’s preamble to remove the word India.

In June 2020, the Supreme Court sent a petition seeking renaming of India as Bharat for the Centre’s consideration. “Bharat and India are both names given in the Constitution. India is already called Bharat in the Constitution,” then Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde had orally said in that hearing. The petitioner, Namah, a Delhi resident, said in his plea that the word Bharat instilled national pride while India is of Greek origin.

Rajesh Jha, an assistant professor at Delhi University said that while the Constitution uses both India and Bharat, in academics, the term India is used in English and Bharat in Hindi.

“Such a settled issue has been dealt in very politico-cosmetic manner to divert the attention from the serious challenges faced by the education sector in recent times. The public spending on education has gone down and large number of vacancies of teachers have not been filled. The scarcity of teachers very adversely affects the quality teaching of social sciences, about which the panel is silent,” he said.