India as Bharat in NCERT Books: The expert panel at the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is making changes in the educational world in the best way possible.
Sit back and think of the next set of new books that will proudly feature 'Bharat' instead of the usual 'India'!
And not just this, everyone on the panel gave it a big, unanimous thumbs up.
As per Committiee's chairperson CI Isaac's statements, the proposal was put forth a few months ago. The decision comes amidst intense speculation on whether the name of the country changed to ‘Bharat or not’.
Around the G20 summit, the invites to the G20 dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu referred to her as the President of Bharat, and this kickstarted a political row.
Not just this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nameplate also displayed ‘Bharat’ instead of ‘India’ during his address at the G20 Leaders' Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in Delhi's Pragati Maidan.
The videos and pictures of Narendra Modi had gone viral after his placard had Bharat and not India.
The proposal has more for us to know. NCERT plans to highlight ‘Hindu victories’ in the textbooks. The panel furthermore recommended introduction of ‘classical history’ instead of ‘ancient history’. The textbooks of history will also no longer be divided into medieval, ancient, and modern.
As per CI Issac member of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), the British divided Indian history into three stages – ancient, medieval, and modern, showing India gloaming, unaware of scientific understanding and progress.
Furthermore, he said “Our failures are mentioned in the textbooks but our undefeatable victories over the Mughals and Sultans are not,".
The NCERT panel also suggested incorporating Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in the curriculum of all subjects.
This is just the beginning as the NCERT panel gave the green light to replace 'India' with 'Bharat'. From making bold changes in Indian history lessons to welcoming the Indian Knowledge System to the curriculum, big changes are on the horizon of the educational industry.
As we are getting into the new learning era let us just bid farewell to the old phases of history textbooks that are medieval, ancient, and modern.
It is not just merely about changing the old existing three phases but about the reclaiming of history, a celebration of wins, and a bow down to our rich Indian cultural heritage.
By: Manika Sharma