Owaisi accuses RSS-BJP of distorting history through NCERT textbook revisions
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New Delhi: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of deliberately distorting history by making selective changes in NCERT school textbooks.
Speaking during a televised debate on Saturday, Owaisi questioned the omission of key historical details from the curriculum, including the role of Bharatiya Jana Sangh leader Syama Prasad Mookherjee in the Bengal Cabinet under Fazlul Haq, who had moved the Pakistan resolution at the Muslim League’s Lahore session.
“Why don't you teach that Mukherjee was a Cabinet member? This is history. Why hide it?” Owaisi asked.
He alleged that the RSS’s limited participation in major freedom movements such as the Civil Disobedience Movement, Quit India Movement and Rowlatt Satyagraha had been left out of textbooks. “You selectively teach things and portray your ideological leaders as spotless,” he said, urging that history should be taught without ideological bias.
The AIMIM leader also criticized what he described as the glorification of the Prime Minister in educational content while avoiding honest discussions about the RSS’s prayer, oath and founding principles. “You're trying to present your ideology as noble while portraying others as bad. Teach everything -- why are you hiding things?” he added.
On the broader issue of curriculum changes, Owaisi claimed that the practice of rewriting history has been a consistent agenda for the RSS and BJP whenever they hold power. He urged that the book Muslims Against Partition by Shamsul Islam be included in the syllabus to counter what he termed as “false narratives” about Muslims’ role in the partition.
“This lie about partition is repeated time and again. At that time, not even 2 to 3 per cent of Muslims had the right to vote. Only elitists such as zamindars and jagirdars were enfranchised. Even today, they (RSS and BJP) blame us (Muslims) for the partition of the country. How were we responsible for that? Those who fled, fled. Those who were loyal, stayed,” he said.
His remarks come amid growing criticism over political and ideological influences in curriculum design.