Punjab govt's committee suggests replacing Class 12 history book

A six-member oversight committee, set up to examine the recommendations of a 2014 panel that reviewed the Punjab School Education Board's history syllabus for classes 11 and 12, has suggested "replacing" the Class 12 history book in the next session.

The committee has in its preliminary findings "rejected" the Class 12 history book of the state education board after spotting mistakes in it and has suggested using "the old history book" in this session, a committee member said.

The committee has held two meetings. The next meeting will be convened on June 21 and it's there the "mistakes" found in the Class 12 history book will be placed before the board, he said.

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had last month announced the constitution of the six-member oversight committee to examine the recommendations of the 2014 panel that reviewed the history syllabus and oversee all history books in the future..

The move had come after the Shiromani Akali Dal had alleged that a major portion of Sikh and Punjab history had been removed from the Class 12 curriculum.

The Punjab School Education Board and the Congress government had earlier said that the curriculum was only "re-aligned" to match the NCERT syllabus.

The committee headed by eminent historian Prof Kirpal Singh also includes former vice chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University Prof J S Grewal, former pro-vice chancellor of GNDU Prof. Prithipal Singh Kapur, emeritus Prof. of History at Panjab University Indu Banga, and two eminent historians nominated by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee.

Meanwhile, the SAD today thanked the oversight committee "for undoing the wrong done to Punjab and its Sikh history and culture by "rejecting" the new history book.

In a statement issued here, former education minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said, "Our stand has been vindicated by the committee formed by the Congress government. We have all along maintained that the deletion of Sikh history in the Class 12 history book smacked of a conspiracy to destroy the roots of our religious and cultural legacy."