The six-member panel constituted to review the cartoons
used in social sciences textbooks of the National Council for
Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has ordered the deletion of
several cartoons and words that it says are either “ambiguous”, negative
or show politicians and bureaucrats in an ‘incorrect way.
Among the material that gets the chop:
an R.K. Laxman cartoon from the 1950s showing Nehru telling France and
Portugal (represented as monkeys, in the context of the demand that they
leave Pondicherry and Goa) that ‘I admit years back you were living
happily right here when this was all a colonial jungle… but we’ve
cleared it now and built a decent house! So you must quit!’ (“Cartoon
may be deleted. No politician or institution may be represented as
animals”)
a Surendra cartoon from The Hindu showing babus blocking the RTI (“may be deleted as it is not a correct interpretation of the role of the bureaucracy”)
a Huffaker cartoon from the U.S. called ‘One-Party Country’ showing a
porcine tycoon with the Senate, presidency and Supreme Court in his
pockets (“may be deleted because politicians and institutions are
represented as animals”)
an R.K. Laxman cartoon
showing a beggar holding a bowl out to a garlanded Indira Gandhi (“may
be deleted — being politically sensitive)
in a
cartoon describing two Emergency-era notions — “Put simply, committed
judiciary and committed bureaucracy means that the judges and officers
should be loyal to the ruling party. What a pity!” — the panel says
“What a pity!” should be removed.
a Shankar cartoon
called ‘Kicking upstairs’ showing Nehru using his foot to propel a
politician up into a building labelled ‘Governorship’ (“may be deleted
as it conveys a sense of ambiguity”)
The panel’s
40-page report was submitted to the government on June 27. Its terms of
reference were to identify educationally inappropriate materials and
provide alternative suggestions for the six textbooks in Political
Science. One member, M.S.S. Pandian — who said he found nothing
objectionable in the books — has issued a dissenting note.
Justifying
the proposed deletions, the panel majority headed by S.K. Thorat says
in its report: “They [authors] may have reasons to believe that the
cartoons used were not offensive but only reflected commonly perceived
notions.
In a society as vast and as diverse as India is, there can
always be room for different understanding of the text and
interpretation of visuals, and especially cartoons could be viewed
differently by different segment of society. It is more so when multiple
sensitivities get involved. The sensitivities, genuine or perceived,
have to be taken note of and addressed carefully.”
Calling
for wider consultation and feedback in the future, the panel said the
“best way for that can be pre-testing of texts and visuals in different
setting such as rural- urban and various types of schools, discussion
with different religious minorities and ethnic minorities, involvement
of teachers and faculty from different social and religious background
in textbook development, periodic updating, improving and redressing
objections in an appropriate academic manner.”
Take By: The Hindu
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