The historic decision of invalidating the provisions of Article 370 has found a brief mention in the revised Class XII political science book of National Council for Educational Research and Training(NCERT) for the academic session 2020-21.
The revised textbook, Politics of India since Independence, has addressed the withdrawal of Article 370 in the chapter, ‘Regional Aspirations’.
The chapter says “Jammu and Kashmir had a special status under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. However, in spite of it, the region witnessed violence, cross-border terrorism and political instability with internal and external ramifications”.
“The Article resulted in the loss of many lives, including that of innocent civilians, security personnel and militants. Besides, there was also a large scale displacement of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir valley,” it read.
Highlighting the landmark decision, a sentence of the chapter reads: ‘On 5 August 2019, Article 370 was abolished by the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019 and the state was constituted into two Union Territories, viz, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.”
The revised chapter talks about the development in the state that took place from 2002 onward. It also deals with the internal problems and the roots of problem that existed in the state during insurgency period.
The book also talks about the President’s Rule imposed in the state in June 2018.The Governor’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir was imposed on June 20, 2018 and the State Assembly was kept suspended after the state faced a political crisis when BJP withdrew support to Mehbooba Mufti-led government.
The chapter also features two front-page newspaper stories — ‘Kashmir Accedes to India’ and ‘Sheikh Abdullah Arrested.”
Earlier this month, CBSE announced a reduction of 30 percent syllabus for class 9 to 12 due to the Covid-19 situation in the country. The decision received much flak as opposition alleged centre of dropping many important topics including ‘Democracy’ to propagate their ideology.
