AP's Divisive' Stand on National Education Policy Raises Public Concern
VISHAKHAPATNAM: A proposal by NCERT’s social sciences committee to change the name of the nation from India to Bharat and 'ancient history' to 'classical history' in textbooks is raising a row.
The AP government supports the National Education Policy, under which the proposal is made. States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have opposed this.
Eyebrows are raised about the lack of opposition from political parties, including the Telugu Desam and Jana Sena. Right to Education activist Narvana Prakash said there has been no community meeting to discuss these changes.
"Why is the government not focusing on unemployment, poverty and other crucial issues instead of creating these problems? This may be to distort people’s attention from the failures of the government,” he stated.
Those opposing the ‘change’ move suspect that the state government is under pressure from the central government to support such steps. Students may oppose it but they have no voting right, it is noted.
Former MLA and vice-president of state BJP, P. Vishnukumar Raju, told Deccan Chronicle that there was nothing inherently wrong with a change of India's name to Bharat. “The name India was thrust on us by the British. It is natural for the nation to embrace its own identity.”
He said opposition parties might oppose governmental initiatives irrespective of their merit. I express my gratitude to the AP government for supporting this initiative to reclaim our cultural and historical identity as Bharat,” he said.
