Punjab politics on the boil over 'dilution' of Sikh history in textbooks

Politics in Punjab is on the boil again. This time the issue pertains to the alleged dilution of Sikh history in the school textbooks for Classes 11 and 12. The issue is all set to gather steam in the days to come given its emotive nature.

One must keep in mind the distinct character of Punjab when it comes to such issues, no matter how big or small they are. This is a border state where a national minority is in majority. It is a state that has witnessed a lot of turmoil over issues of Sikh identity and homeland and these issues still form a part of political narrative.

The political battle began with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) firing the first salvo and former education minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema accusing the state's own school board of expunging the history makers of Punjab from the history books.

He said the move could be part of a deep rooted conspiracy to rob the future generations of Punjabis from knowledge about the history of Sikh Gurus and Sikh warriors of Punjab.

He said there were 23 chapters carrying information about Sikh Gurus, Sikh warriors and historical facts about Punjab in the class twelve history book that have been removed illogically and replaced with a half page description about the glorious period of Sikh history.

“This is intolerable as it amounts to playing with the sentiments of the Sikh community and purposefully ignoring the contributions of the Sikh gurus in the history of the country,” he said while pointing that the new book has also done injustice to Punjabis by ignoring their stellar role in the freedom struggle as well as their contributions to safeguard the unity and integrity of the country.

The main Opposition party, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) too joined the issue with its leadership collectively pointing that the move of Punjab State Education Board (PSEB) to remove the chapters related to the history of Sikh gurus and their teachings, Anglo-Sikh wars, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Sikh struggle against Mughals and Ahmad Shah Abdali and the origin and growth of Sikh Misls etc will isolate the youth of Punjab from glorious past of Sikhism in particular and Punjab as a whole.

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh was quick to dismiss these 'malicious' allegations and claimed that courses had merely been realigned with the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) syllabus to enable the students from Punjab to compete at the national level.

He claimed that the history chapters had been now spread across Classes XI and XII, on the recommendation of an expert committee, of which a Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) representative was also a member.

He further claimed that far from removing any chapter on the Sikh Gurus, the Board, under his directives, had in fact incorporated chapters on the lives of the four Sahibzadas in the school text books to ensure that the youngsters also learn of their sacrifices, along with the history of the Sikh Gurus.

He later pointed that the decision to realign the courses with NCERT syllabus was taken during the Akali regime in 2014.

Taking the battle to the next level the Akalis have given an ultimatum to the government to immediately issue orders to stop 'the conspiracy to eliminate the proud and unparalleled history and heritage of the Khalsa Panth or face a worldwide popular resistance movement by the Sikh quom'.

They along with their ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have decided to seek the Governor VP Singh Badnore's intervention in the matter.

SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal has convened an emergency meeting of the political affairs committee, the working committee, the general council, all the political advisers, all the zila and circle jathedars of the party Amritsar on May 11.

To make matters worse, historians are also pointing at factual errors in the new books with regards to dates, references to historical figures and incorrect usage of words while referring to several aspects of Sikhism.

Admitting to the mistakes, the government has apologised and promised to make necessary corrections after a review. Reports say that as many as 45,700 copies of the book have already been printed in Hindi, Punjabi and English mediums.

Observers point out that this is the first issue on which a major confrontation between the Congress and Akalis appears imminent. Till now the Amarinder government has been facing flak for going soft on Akalis on various other issues. It is being questioned what was the need to change the syllabus knowing very well that this is a touchy issue.

The additions were welcome but dilution of already existing content would obviously create unrest in a state like Punjab and that too in a syllabus of a subject like history for classes 11 and 12 where it is an optional subject and not a compulsory one. The government needs to tell who finalized the syllabus and when as the printing of books followed later.

The issue is an emotive one that has fallen in the lap of the Akalis. It has all the potential to snowball into a major one at a time when Punjab prepares for the Shahkot Assembly by-poll scheduled for May 28 that will be followed by Lok Sabha polls in less than a year.