Naveen Patnaik Slams NCERT for Excluding Paika Rebellion from History Textbook
New Delhi: Another front has opened up against the BJP in Odisha, this time over school curriculum, with former chief minister Naveen Patnaik targeting NCERT for exclusion of the Paika rebellion, of great significance to Odiyas. The Union education minister, considered the topmost Odisha leader from the BJP, Dharmendra Pradhan, has added to the significance of the attack by Patnaik.
Naveen Patnaik has written that he is “deeply concerned to know that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has dropped Odisha’s Paika Rebellion or Paika Bidroha from its text books.” Patnaik has termed the rebellion as a watershed in Odiya history.
“The Paika rebellion was a watershed moment in Odisha’s history as our brave Paikas fought with extraordinary courage against oppressive British way back in 1817. I had urged the Govt of India many times to declare it as first war of Independence. The Paikas came together to fight against the tyranny of foreign, colonial rule with unparalleled bravery. The omission of the epic rebellion from NCERT text books, which took place 40 years before the sepoy mutiny is a huge dishonour to our brave Paikas, 200 years after the rebellion- which became torchbearer for people’s movement against British rule,” he said.
The former chief minister has asked the current CM, as well as the Union education minister to “ensure that justice is done to Paika Bidroha and Odisha.”
NCERT, on its part, had put out a press release to try and damage control after media ran stories on the exclusion of the rebellion on Monday, saying that the Grade 8 Social Science textbook 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲: 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 happens to be “the first (sic) volume of this textbook. The second volume is in the final stages of development and is expected to be released in Sept-Oct 2025. Topics relating to the regional resistance movements/armed uprisings such as the Paika rebellion/Khurda uprising of Odisha, the Kuka movement/rebellion of the Sikhs in Punjab etc, will be handled in this volume.”
Historians have been concerned over many controversial moves by the NCERT in recent iterations of school textbooks, with omissions being of paramount concern.
Experts say that to sideline mainstream movements and rebellions in a second part, amounts to sidelining and there is concern about how the larger India story of the past is being handled and presented, especially to middle-school students, many of whom do not revisit history, as part of their curriculum, a school subject after that. This makes middle school texts of abiding significance.
The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
