NCERT removes cartoon on coalition govts from Class 12 textbook
says it casts India in ‘negative light’
New Delhi: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has made a change to its Class 12 political science textbook by removing a political cartoon that illustrated the challenges and uncertainties faced by coalition governments in India. The decision to remove the cartoon was made as it portrayed the country in a “negative light.”
The cartoon, created by Ravishankar and originally published in India Today magazine, featured images of several Prime Ministers, including V.P. Singh (1990), Chandra Shekhar (1990), P.V. Narasimha Rao (1991), H.D. Deve Gowda (1996), I.K. Gujral (1997), and A.B. Vajpayee (1998). It included a series of questions about the stability of their coalition governments and the state of democracy in India.
According to a report in The Hindu, the illustration has been replaced with two students conversing with each other in speech bubbles. In the new illustration, one student questions, “Does that mean that we will always have coalitions? Or can the national parties consolidate their positions again?” The other student responds, “I am not worried about whether it is a single party or a coalition government. I am more worried about what they do. Does a coalition government involve more compromises? Can we not have bold and imaginative policies in a coalition?”
The document published by the NCERT outlining these changes dates back to April 2024, before the general election and the formation of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not hold a majority on its own.
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Trump says he ‘hasn’t even thought about’ continuing Iran ceasefire
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he has not yet considered whether he would continue the ceasefire involving Iran, while also claiming the United States holds the advantage in negotiations.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he was prepared to make a deal with “whoever is running the show” in Iran.
“They are fighting with each other, there’s tremendous infighting. They’re probably fighting for leadership in many cases. I think they’re fighting not to be leader because we knocked out two levels of leaders,” he said.
Trump added, “When they want they can call me. We have all the cards, we’ve won everything.”
Referring to ongoing negotiations, he said, “They gave us a paper that should’ve been better. And, interestingly, immediately when I cancelled it [envoy trip to Pakistan], within 10 minutes we got a new paper that was much better.”
“We talked about they will not have a nuclear weapon, very simple … They offered a lot, but not enough,” he added.
When asked whether he would continue the ceasefire, Trump replied, “I haven’t even thought about it.”
The remarks come as uncertainty remains over the future of the temporary truce and broader negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
