The new NCERT Class 12 Political Science textbook, which hit the market last week, introduces significant changes to the Ayodhya dispute section. Notably, it does not mention the Babri Masjid by name, instead referring to it as a "three-domed structure." The section on Ayodhya has been reduced from four pages to two, with several key deletions from the earlier version.
According to the Indian Express report, the NCERT had previously disclosed some of the changes on April 5, including the removal of at least three references to the demolition and the primacy given to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. The old textbook described the Babri Masjid as a 16th-century mosque built by Mughal Emperor Babur's General Mir Baqi. Now, the chapter refers to it as "a three-dome structure (that) was built at the site of Shri Ram's birthplace in 1528, but the structure had visible displays of Hindu symbols and relics in its interior as well as its exterior portions."
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The old textbook detailed the BJP rath yatra from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya, the role of kar sevaks, the communal violence in the wake of the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, President's rule in BJP-ruled states, and the BJP's expression of "regret over the happenings at Ayodhya." Over two pages, it described the mobilization "on both sides" after the demolition.
However, the extent of the revisions in the new textbook was unknown until now. The new version also highlights the 2019 Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya as a "classic example" of consensus.