NCERT drops references to Khalistan demand from class 12 political science textbook

While the physical books for the new academic session have already been printed, the changes will reflect in the digital books.

Representative image. Credit: iStock Photo

After the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee’s urged the centre to remove passages mentioning Khalistans from the political textbooks of class 12 students, the National Council for Educational Research and Training will now drop two such references.

The SGPC, which is Punjab’s primary management board of gurdwaras, wrote to the Centre about the mention of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution of 1973 which had a passage: “creation of a separate Sikh nation”.

It has now been removed.

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Sanjay Kumar, secretary for the Union department of school education and literacy, said that the NCERT has issued a corrigendum since books have been printed. "The digital version will carry the corrections," Kumar said.

Another sentence, which said that, "... the more extreme elements started a movement for secession from India and the creation of Khalistan" has entirely been removed, the secretary said.

Kumar said that after the letter, a committee was constituted which gave the recommendations for the removal.