Swami Prasad Maurya slams inclusion of Ramayan, Mahabharat in NCERT textbooks

Samajwadi Party (SP) general secretary and former Uttar Pradesh Minister Swami Prasad Maurya has issued a statement condemning the recommendations of seven-member committee of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), regarding inclusion of epics like Ramayan and Mahabharat in textbooks.

Taking to social media, Swami said: “Does NCERT and the government, by including Ramayana and Mahabharata in curriculum, want to promote the plight of great women like Sita, Shurpanakha and Draupadi?

"While Sita suffered even after going through the ordeal of agni pariksha, Shurpanakha got her nose and ears chopped after a marriage proposal and Draupadi was disrobed and humiliated.”

Maurya wrote that if the matter pertains to teaching about the heroes of the country in the curriculum, highlight about the contributions of great brave 'sons', nation builders and heroes in the NCERT curriculum.

He advocated the inclusion of lessons on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, and others.

“Now there is a need to keep in mind that Shambuk’s head and Ekalavya’s thumb should not be cut off again,” he stated.

Recently, a high-level committee constituted by the NCERT to revise the school curriculum for social sciences, has recommended to Ramayana and Mahabharata in textbooks, and to write the Preamble of the Constitution on classroom walls.