&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "NCERT revises Class 8 textbook, says Congress accepted 1947 Partition as 'the only way forward' - All about new changes here")
The NCERT has made major changes to its Class 8 Social Science textbooks, adding new insights into the 1947 India-Pakistan partition. The updated version of the school textbook released on Monday (Feb 23) notes that while Mahatma Gandhi and most Congress leaders had opposed the idea of partition, "they ended up accepting it as the only way forward." This latest revision, done in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, also brings in new chapters on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919, the Direct Action Day of 1946, and more.
What did the previous Class 8 NCERT say about the 1947 partition?
The old Class 8 NCERT history book also had a section on partition. It stated that a three-member mission sent by the British cabinet to Delhi with the suggestion of a political framework for a free India "could not get the Congress and the Muslim League to agree to specific details of the proposal".
"Partition now became more or less inevitable," it noted, adding that the "joy of our country's Independence from British rule came mixed with the pain and violence of Partition".
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What does the new NCERT say about Partition?
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The newly updated textbook 'Exploring Society: India and Beyond Part 2' in a chapter titled 'India's Long Road to Independence,' covers the freedom fight - from the 1857 revolt, up to the 1947 partition of India-Pakistan. It also mentions the Partition of Bengal.
It explains that historians have long debated what led to Britain's exit from India, and notes "the earlier view was that it was mostly thanks to Gandhi, his doctrine of non-violence, and the Congress’s policies". The updated textbook notes that "multiple other factors were also at work – the popular uprisings, the numerous attempts by revolutionaries, the mutinies in the Royal Indian Air Force and the Royal Indian Navy".
"Also, Britain’s diminished status after World War II, and the worldwide trend towards decolonisation – the age of empires was over, at least in that form," it reads.
Story of 'Bande Mataram' and the rise of nationalist feelings
Additionally, the textbook introduces a new section detailing the cultural influences that contribute to the growth of nationalist sentiment. It refers to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's 'Bande Mataram'. Featuring the first two stanzas of the National Song of India, the textbook challenges students to "make out some of their meaning".
