The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), which is responsible for preparing textbooks for Indian students, has removed dubious claims about Brahmins from its 6th Standard book.
The development comes a year after RTI activist Vivek Pandey filed a query with the autonomous government organisation, seeking written evidence for sweeping claims about Hindu priests and ‘ill-treatment’ of women and shudras in ancient India.
The NCERT in its reply to the RTI query acknowledged that it had no evidence to support the claim that Hindu priests divided people into varnas and that women and shudras were not allowed to study the Vedas.
I filed RTI to @ncert on caste system taught in std-6. Young minds are filled with biased improper facts on caste hirarchy & taught misinterpreted vedic scriptures. This will take a bad toll on the fundamentals of children & society as a whole! #LiesOfNcert #NCERT #NCERTHISTORY pic.twitter.com/WAa1E7Iuw1
— Dr Vivek Pandey (@Vivekpandey21) September 1, 2022
NCERT and its disinformation targeting Brahmins
At that time, NCERT had assured that the misleading information would be removed in the subsequent, rationalised version of the textbook. OpIndia can confirm that the 2023-2024 edition of the 6th Standard NCERT textbook ‘History-Our Past I’ reflects the necessary changes.
The contentious material appeared in Chapter 5 titled ‘Kingdoms, Kings and an Early Republic (Pages 44-45)’ of the textbook. It was claimed that the Hindu priests (Brahmins) divided the people into groups called varnas and told them that varnas were determined by birth.
The NCERT textbook also alleged that women were ‘grouped’ with Shudras and that they were not allowed to study the Vedas. It was also declared that the priests classified some people as ‘untouchables.’
Asked information. pic.twitter.com/eJv2EwVQWA
— Dr Vivek Pandey (@Vivekpandey21) September 1, 2022
The extract of the misleading text:
“We have many books that were composed in north India, especially in the areas drained by the Ganga and the Yamuna, during this period. These books are often called later Vedic, because they were composed after the Rigveda about which you learnt in Chapter 4. These include the Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda, as well as other books. These were composed by priests, and described how rituals were to be performed. They also contained rules about society.
The priests divided people into four groups, called varnas, According to them, each varna had a different set of functions. The first varna was that of the brahmin. Brahmins were expected to study (and teach) the Vedas, perform sacrifices and receive gifts. In the second place were the rulers, also known as kshatriyas. They were expected to fight battles and protect people.
Third were the vish or the vaishyas. They were expected to be farmers, herders, and traders, Both the kshatriyas and the vaishyas could perform sacrifices. Last were the shudras, who had to serve the other three groups and could not perform any rituals. Often, women were also grouped with the shudras. Both women and shudras were not allowed to study the Vedas, The priests also said that these groups were decided on the basis of birth.
For example, if one’s father and mother were brahmins one would automatically become a brahmin, and so on. Later, they classified some people as untouchable. These included some crafts persons, hunters and gatherers, as well as people who helped perform burials and cremations. The priests said that contact with these groups was polluting.
Many people did not accept the system of varna laid down by the brahmins. Some kings thought they were superior to the priests. Others felt that birth could not be a basis for deciding which varna people belonged to. Besides, some people felt that there should be no differences amongst people based on occupation. Others felt that everybody should be able to perform rituals. And others condemned the practice of untouchability. Also, there were many areas in the subcontinent, such as the north-east, where social and economic differences were not very sharp, and where the influence of the priests was limited.“
NCERT removes misleading content
In the rationalised version of the textbook (2023-2024 edition), the disinformation peddled against Brahmins was removed.
The misleading text was changed with the following extract:
“There were four social categories, namely Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. Brahmins were expected to study (and teach)
the Vedas, perform sacrifices and receive gifts. Kshatriyas were expected to fight battles and protect people. Vaishyas were expected to be farmers, herders, and traders. The Shudras were expected to serve the other three groups.“
#GoodNews: NCERT has removed misleading claims about Brahmins from its 6th Standard textbook. I had filed #RTI asking #NCERT to show evidence that Brahmins divided people into Varnas and that women and Shudras were not allowed to read Vedas. pic.twitter.com/URtFUdM1kQ
— Dr Vivek Pandey (@Vivekpandey21) February 4, 2024
It must be mentioned that the NCERT had acknowledged in 2022 that the assertions involving Hindu priests, women and Shudras had no basis.
“Since original draft of manuscript does not provide detailed references, it would be difficult to share the original source of claims,” it replied to the RTI query by Vivek Pandey.
Professor Gouri Srivastava, the Head of Department of Education in Social Sciences (DESS) of NCERT, had assured that the contentious section of the 6th standard textbook would be removed.
“We would like to inform you that taking into consideration the learning loss caused due to Covid 19 pandemic, the Department of Education in Social Sciences, rationalized its syllabi and textbooks in all subjects, for the next year across the stages. As part of this exercise, some content/chapters in history were merged while some other content/chapters were dropped. The statements for which you are seeking evidences will no longer be part of the history textbook for class VI from the next academic session,” she said in the RTI reply.
