New Delhi: The National Council of Educational Research and Training’s (NCERT) controversial changes and deletions in school textbooks were widely covered in the Urdu press this week, although parliamentary disruptions and the budget session being adjourned remained the most talked-about topics.
In its latest review, the NCERT has made some controversial deletions, including some pertaining to the Mughals and Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. The changes have been widely condemned by critics of the Narendra Modi government.
Meanwhile, Parliament’s budget session ended without any breakthrough in the stalemate, but the Urdu newspapers had a slightly different take on how the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may be viewing the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi — one of the main issues that made Parliament non-functional.
Other issues covered this week include the Israeli police’s storming of al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the communal violence that occurred in various locations across India on Ram Navami.
ThePrint brings you a weekly roundup of all that made news in the Urdu press this week.
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NCERT and changes
NCERT’s changes to the Class 12 syllabus and its deletions in the history, political science and Hindi textbooks were widely covered.
On 4 April, Sahara’s main report on its front page was about the changes. The report said a chapter on the Mughal Empire had been removed from the history textbooks and that some poems and paragraphs from the Hindi book were also cut out.
In an editorial on 5 April, the Sahara editorial said only time will tell what consequences these changes in the curriculum will bring, but they will certainly ensure that a generation will be deprived of knowledge not only about the important facts and events of India’s history, but also of events in other countries that played a role in shaping the world.
Our children will not only be ignorant of the harmful effects of the immoral alliances, imperialism, militarism and nationalism that caused the First World War, they will also be deprived of the knowledge of the causes and causes of the industrial revolution that changed the world, it added.
On 6 April, Sahara reported the Congress’s criticism of the NCERT’s exercise. The report quoted the Congress as having said that those who try to distort history end up in history’s dustbin themselves.
Parliament impasse
Even as a much-disrupted Budget Session of Parliament came to an end, the logjam dominated the front pages through the week.
All three prominent Urdu papers — Roznama Rashtriya Sahara, Siasat, and Inquilab — reported the news, as well as the opposition’s Tiranga march demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into the Adani-Hindenburg row.
On 1 April, Roznama Rashtriya Sahara reported on its front page that independent MP Kapil Sibal had opposed Congress leader Digvijay Singh’s “Thank You Germany” tweet, saying that there is no need to get support from foreign countries. Singh was reacting to Germany’s statement on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification.
Gandhi was disqualified from Parliament last month after being found guilty and sentenced to two years of prison in a criminal defamation case. His disqualification was one of the factors in the Parliament logjam.
On 2 April, Sahara reported that the opposition had said it would continue to demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into American shortseller Hindenburg’s claims about the Adani Group. Siasat, too, reported the Congress’s statement on the front page.
In January this year, New York-based Hindenburg had accused the Adani Group of brazen accounting fraud and stock manipulation.
In an editorial on 2 April, Siasat wrote that the BJP may not have foreseen the extent of opposition unity that followed Gandhi’s disqualification, with even those parties that are normally against the Congress opposing the move.
That and the fact that Gandhi seems to be garnering public sympathy ahead of assembly elections in several states has caused the BJP to worry, the editorial added.
On 3 April, Inquilab reported on its front page that a congregation of opposition parties was set to take place in Delhi that day under the aegis of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Siasat reported on its front page on 4 April that Gandhi’s appeal against his conviction would be heard on 13 April, and that he had been granted bail in the meantime.
On 7 April, Sahara reported that even on the last day, when both houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die, disruptions plagued proceedings. The newspaper said that eight bills had been tabled and six passed, adding that the Lok Sabha had worked for 34 per cent of the allotted time and the Rajya Sabha only for 24 per cent.
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China ‘renames’ places in Arunachal Pradesh
On 5 April, Sahara reported that China had released the ‘standarised’ names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh — the third time in five years. China had previously ‘renamed’ 15 places in 2021 and six in 2017, the report said.
An area near Arunachal’s capital Itanagar was also ‘renamed’, the report added.
In its editorial the same day, Siasat wrote that although the border dispute between India and China isn’t new, the past few years have seen Beijing take an increasingly aggressive stance. According to reports, China has occupied hundreds of kilometres of territory on the Arunachal Pradesh border and has claimed villages for itself, even erecting military installations, the editorial said.
Although efforts have been made at de-escalation following clashes on the border, China continues to threaten India “with red eyes” from time to time, the editorial said, adding that there have also been claims that Beijing has been building airports in some parts of Arunachal Pradesh.
Ram Navami violence
The communal violence that took place in several parts of the country on Ram Navami (30 March), and its aftermath, continued to make headlines in the Urdu press.
On 3 April, Sahara reported that a woman had been booked for hate speech in Una in Gujarat’s Gir Somnath district on Ram Navami. The paper reported that more than 50 people were detained on charges of rioting after a communal clash in which two people had been wounded.
On 5 April, Sahara reported that after the violence on Ram Navami, clashes had once again been reported in Hooghly late on 3 April and that stone-pelting was reported outside Hooghly’s Rasra railway station. The report said police were conducting raids to make arrests.
The next day, the paper reported that in view of the Ram Navami clashes the central government had directed states to ensure that there would be no violence on Hanuman Jayanti.
In its editorial, Sahara wrote that the rising incidents of violence on festivals are disturbing peace and order in the country and creating fear and panic among Muslims. Bengal is a particular cause for concern, the editorial said, saying that gruesome incidents of violence were reported from the state on Ram Navami.
The Mamata Banerjee government, the editorial said, claims that violence and clashes are being perpetrated by Bajrang Dal workers, while the BJP says that the Trinamool Congress, worried about its recent defeat, is inciting Hindu-Muslim conflict in order to polarise and get Muslim votes.
The same day, Siasat carried a statement from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an organisation of 57 Islamic countries, in light of the Ram Navami violence. In its statement, OIC voiced concern about the violence against Muslims in India.
Israeli police firing
On its front page on 6 April, Siasat reported that Israeli police had carried out a “dreadful attack” on namazis at the disputed al-Aqsa mosque. The report carried a photo of the incident.
Israeli police had raided the mosque on 5 April and arrested hundreds of Palestinians — a development that drew the condemnation of the Arab world.
On 7 April, Sahara reported that the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) had adopted a stringent resolution against Israel.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)