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In 2023, NCERT will introduce ‘Kings and Chronicles: The Mughal Courts (16th and 17th centuries);’ Decided to remove the chapter covering the topics of. Other topics to be removed include sections related to the life and assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, contributions of Maulana Azad, communal riots, caste and gender inequalities and Dalit writings. Other topics removed from the Class 12 textbook included topics on Mahatma Gandhi, his assassins and the ban on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) after Gandhi’s assassination.
To fight the move, around 250 academics and historians issued a public statement criticizing NCERT for making changes to its textbooks. He alleged that the move is “guided by a divisive and partisan agenda”, while demanding “immediate withdrawal of the steps taken”. The public statement was signed by Romila Thapar, Jayati Ghosh, Mridula Mukherjee, Apoorvanada, Irfan Habib and Upinder Singh, among others.
While it is important for academics to bridge the gap that exists between popular history and academic history, academic writers, by definition, are required to engage in the rigorous practice of reading original sources, and interpreting and theorizing about them, in order to contribute new research to the discipline. We will have to keep pace with each other. , This rigorous and time-consuming exercise often leaves them unable to build rapport with the public.
However, as discussed above, senior historians certainly showed a way to balance this isolation with excellent research. As far as reducing the barriers between intellectuals and the general public is concerned, in the last five years, especially in the post-pandemic era, several platforms have emerged, increasing the interest of experts in obtaining accurate historical knowledge. It has helped in connecting with the caring public. In recent years, as one can see, there has been a major effort to address this situation by historians engaging in online talks and heritage walks to deliver expert analyzes to the online public.
such as online platforms Heritage Caravan, Ganga Jamuni Foundation, And others played a great role in bridging the gap between academicians and common people through weekly lectures on diverse topics on Facebook and YouTube. Along with this, a series of new works have been and are being published by popular and academic writers like Rana Safavi, Swapna Liddle, Ira Mukhoti and Ruby Lal, which has reached the masses significantly. Popularizing history is still an ongoing process which will yield positive results.
(Zainab Naqvi is a research candidate in Mughal History at Aligarh Muslim University. Views are personal.)
