'Attempt to saffronise...' Kerala Education Minister on NCERT's move to replace India with Bharat in textbooks

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Minister for General Education and Labour, V Sivankutty, has said that Kerala will not accept and is rejecting the decision to change India to Bharat in textbooks. In the press conference, the minister said that efforts are being made to saffronise the textbooks. They are trying to change the history of India. Sivankutty perceives these changes as anti-democratic and detrimental to academic interests. The minister also said that they are trying to neglect academic interests.

India's history, fundamental issues, and constitutional values ​​are all being changed. Kerala uses NCERT books for classes 1 to 10. The Minister explained that it will continue like this. The minister affirmed that the state would make its own decisions regarding education and that further steps would be taken after consulting with the Chief Minister. The minister also criticized the central government for not involving the state in decisions related to the education sector 

Meanwhile, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan backed the NCERT panel's suggestion to substitute "Bharat" for "India" in textbooks. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Khan claimed that the recommendation was in accordance with the constitution and that "others" gave the name "India" while we had given the name "Bharat." According to his understanding, the term "Bharat" will be used more frequently for official purposes, he continued.

At the same time, CPI(M) General Secretary M V Govindan said that the name India cannot be changed just by the order of an RSS worker.

Govindan said, "India's name cannot be replaced just by an order of an RSS worker. This is actually Savarkar's stand. There is also a notion to make Puranas as RSS-produced Puranas and convert to Hinduism and communalism."