NCERT adds scrapping of Article 370 to Class 12 textbook chapter

New Delhi The NCERT has revised a chapter in its Class 12 political science textbook to drop a paragraph on separatist politics in Jammu and Kashmir and to add a brief mention of the scrapping of its special status last yearThe National Council of Educational Research and Training NCERT has revised the chapter in the textbook Politics in India since Independence for the academic session 202021While the topic Separatism and Beyond has been deleted from the chapter the scrapping of Article 370 which gave the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir special status has been included under the topic Regional AspirationsOn August 5 last year the Centre had scrapped the states special status and divided it into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and LadakhOne strand of separatists who want a separate Kashmiri nation independent of India and Pakistan Then there are groups that want Kashmir to merge with Pakistan Besides these there is a third strand which wants greater autonomy for the people of the state within the Indian union the deleted portion readThe chapter then talks about the Presidents Rule imposed in June 2018 after the BJP withdrew its support to the Mehbooba Mufti government and towards the end mentions the withdrawal of Article 370The revised portion where the chapter talks about Jammu and Kashmir says Jammu and Kashmir had a special status under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution However in spite of it the region witnessed violence crossborder terrorism and political instability with internal and external ramificationsThe Article resulted in the loss of many lives including that of innocent civilians security personnel and militants Besides there was also a large scale displacement of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir valley it readOn August 5 2019 Parliament had approved a resolution abrogating special status to J and K under Article 370 of the Constitution The state was also bifurcated into two Union territories iquest Ladakh with no Legislative Assembly and Jammu and Kashmir with one the revised portion readThe revised textbook takes into account the developments that took place in Jammu and Kashmir from 2002 onwardEarlier this month a controversy had erupted over the reduction of syllabus by the CBSE due to the COVID19 situation with the Opposition alleging that chapters on Indias democracy and plurality are being dropped to propagate a particular ideologyBut the Board had insisted it is a onetime measure for this academic year only and is not restricted to a particular subject as is being projected by someThe Central Board of Secondary Education CBSE had notified the new syllabus for classes 9 to 12 for the 202021 academic session after rationalising up to 30 per cent of the curriculumAccording to the updated curriculum the chapters deleted from the Class 10 syllabus are those dealing with democracy and diversity gender religion and caste popular struggles and movement and challenges to democracyFor Class 11 the deleted portions include the chapters on federalism citizenship nationalism secularism and growth of local governments in IndiaSimilarly Class 12 students will not be required to study the chapters on Indias relations with its neighbours Pakistan Myanmar Bangladesh Sri Lanka and Nepal the changing nature of Indias economic development social movements in India and demonetisation among othersCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news