Adnan Ali, TwoCircles.net
Chhatarpur (Madhya Pradesh): The spectre of ‘Love Jihad’ has resurfaced in a striking new context — school textbooks. In Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district, a ‘concerned’ parent has accused the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), claiming that the curriculum is subtly endorsing this contentious concept.
Raghav Pathak, whose daughter is in third grade, lodged a formal police complaint against NCERT in September, claiming that a chapter in the environmental science book encourages the notion of ‘Love Jihad’.
Pathak discovered a chapter titled ‘Chitthi Aayi Hai’ (A Letter Has Come) in his daughter’s textbook, which features a letter written by a Hindu girl named Reena to her Muslim friend Ahmed, inviting him to visit Agartala during the holidays.
Pathak, a homeopathy doctor, expressed his shock upon reading the chapter. “In the chapter, a Hindu girl writes a letter to her Muslim friend and ends the note by identifying herself as ‘Tumhari Reena’ (Yours, Reena). This will leave a negative impact on our children. Through such content, our children will get influenced towards ‘Love Jihad’. This will lead to more incidents,” he said.
He noted that in light of growing communal tensions, this type of content could prompt negative thoughts in his daughter’s mind. “The government is creating strict laws to prevent ‘Love Jihad’, while the book seems to promote it,” he argued, calling for the removal or revision of the chapter referencing Ahmed and Reena.
Pathak reflected on the current syllabus, stating it does not resonate with today’s world. “When we were in school, our fathers would help us write letters to the principal,” he recalled.
Commenting on the controversy, Khajuraho SDPO (Sub-divisional Police Officer) Salil Sharma said, “What else can we do except forwarding the complaint to the proper platform? It was our duty, and that has been done.”
He noted that Pathak’s objection lies with the NCERT and the decision will rest with the government and the NCERT.
Pathak emailed NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani and other official Rajesh Kumar, questioning the suitability of including examples of students from different religions in teaching letter-writing. “In the present times, when there is no uniform education policy in the country, people of a particular religion are opposing equal education. They are encouraging children from their community to attain education within their religious framework while keeping them away from mainstream education,” he wrote.
He further argued in the email, “In such a situation, children from the Hindu community who respect mainstream education are exposed to the above-mentioned curriculum. And that too at an innocent age. To what extent is this justified?”
Pathak also suggested that examples involving family members — siblings, parents or grandparents — would be more appropriate for such lessons.
On October 3, he posted a video on Facebook — highlighting another chapter in which a Muslim girl named Razia writes a letter to her grandmother. He questioned, “If Razia writes a letter to her grandmother, why can’t a Hindu girl write a letter to her grandmother?”
In the video, Pathak emphasised the need to be aware of cultural implications in education.
Self-styled godman Pandit Dhirendra Shastri, also known as Bageshwar Dham Sarkar, has also commented on the NCERT syllabus. In a video, he raised questions about the choice of names used in the curriculum. “It is disappointing that they chose ‘Ahmed’ instead of names like Amar, Akash, Avinash or Adarsh. It makes you wonder why that decision was made.”
He further called for unity among Hindus and demanded the removal of the chapter from the curriculum.
Attempts to contact the NCERT director for a response went unanswered. However, the NCERT later issued a clarification on their website, stating that the controversial chapter has no basis in the current curriculum and has been replaced in line with the new National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023.
“…the so-called controversial letter present in the Grade 3 textbook of environmental studies has no basis whatsoever. According to the new National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023, a new textbook — ‘Our Wondrous World’ — has been replaced with the concerned environmental studies textbook from Grade 3 onwards,” it stated.