Kerala CM criticises NCERT panel's recommendation; Urges people to safeguard essence of 'India'
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The NCERT panel's recommendation to replace "India" with "Bharat" in school textbooks cannot be accepted, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Thursday and urged all citizens to unite and safeguard the essence of 'India".
He said the present recommendation could be seen only as a continuation of the recent arbitrary exclusion of portions including Mughal history and the banning of the RSS following Gandhi's assassination from textbooks.
The politics behind the move are as clear as day, he said.
In a statement, the Left veteran accused the NCERT of continuously favouring the Sangh Parivar attempts to distort history.
Now, the high-level committee for social sciences appointed by the NCERT was showing keenness to "whitewash the fake history created by the Sangh", the CM alleged.
"The recent proposal by NCERT to replace 'India' with 'Bharat' in textbooks is not acceptable. Our Constitution recognises both names, and this change appears to be another step in the Sangh Parivar's ongoing effort to impose their divisive communalism in our educational institutions and curriculum," Vijayan said in his X handle.
He further alleged that the Sangh Parivar is scared of the politics of inclusion represented by the term 'India', and their aversion to the word is part of that.
Vijayan charged that the Sangh has always been against the idea of "India" based on pluralism and coexistence.
The NCERT panel's recommendation was the latest example of this, the CM claimed.
"As per the decision of NCERT's Committee on Social Science, the word 'India' should be changed to 'Bharat' in the textbooks of the academic branch. The Constitution refers to our nation as both India and Bharat.
"The politics behind avoiding India in it is as clear as daylight. The Sangh Parivar fears the inclusive politics represented by the phenomenon called India. The hatred against the word India is part of this", he said.
Vijayan urged all citizens to unite and safeguard the essence of 'India', a nation founded on the principles of unity in diversity.
"Let's celebrate our diverse heritage and embrace our pluralistic identity with pride," Vijayan said, a day after a high-level committee for social sciences, appointed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to revise the school curriculum, recommended the replacement of "India" with "Bharat" in textbooks for all classes nationwide.
Earlier in the day, General Education Minister V Sivankutty also came out against the recommendation for the name change and alleged that this was a form of "parochial politics" with a hidden agenda, something the southern state could not accept under any circumstances.
Addressing a press conference in Kollam, Sivankutty stated that the state would reject the panel's recommendation to change the country's name.
He asserted that there was a deliberate effort to "saffronise" the entire curriculum, denying the new generation the opportunity to learn the authentic history of the country.
Sivankutty alleged that this national-level curriculum revision was incompatible with democratic values.
"Every citizen has the right to use India or Bharat as mentioned in the Constitution," he pointed out.
Asking to use only "Bharat" in the textbook was with a "hidden agenda and parochial politics," and Kerala cannot accept it, he said while explaining the government's stand.
In a federal country, the opinion of states should also have been sought before taking significant decisions, but it is not happening in India now, the Minister alleged.
He recalled that Kerala had responded "academically" when a similar attempt to "distort history" took place at the national level during a previous curriculum revision.
Citing figures, he said that out of the 33 crore children of school-going age, only 25 crore actually attend educational institutions. The remaining are not in school for various reasons.
As a progressive society, Kerala bears the responsibility to expose attempts to evade such critical issues, Sivanakutty said.
The minister further said that since education is a subject on the concurrent list of the Constitution, the state has the right to take its own decision in that area.
If the NCERT intends to give children, through its textbooks, content that is 'unconstitutional, unscientific, and a distortion of real history,' Kerala would defend it by raising academic debates, he said.
The government would also convene the State Curriculum Committee and discuss in detail the work of preparing all the textbooks for the 11th and 12th standards in the state itself.
At present, the state is using 44 out of the total 120 textbooks published by the NCERT in these classes.
Responding to a question, the minister said further action would be decided after getting more details on the issue and consulting with CM Vijayan.
CPI (M) state secretary M V Govindan also strongly criticised the BJP-led central government over the NCERT"s recommendation to replace 'India' with 'Bharat' and said the attempt was to indoctrinate a generation by teaching 'distorted history'.
He accused the Centre of trying to change the country's name to Bharat as the opposition front was named "INDIA".
According to NCERT high level committee chairperson C I Isaac, the panel has suggested replacing the name "India" with "Bharat" in the textbooks, introducing "classical history", instead of "ancient history", in the curriculum, and including the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in the syllabus for all subjects.
NCERT Chairman Dinesh Saklani, however, said no decision has been taken yet on the panel's recommendations.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
