CBSE Curriculum 2022-23: Verses Of Urdu Poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz Dropped From Class 10 NCERT Textbook

New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has released CBSE classes 10 and 12 curriculum for the academic year 2022-23. In the new curriculum, excerpts of two poems of renowned Pakistani Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz have been excluded from the Class 10 Social Science textbook, The Indian Express reported on Saturday. For more than a decade, the verses were part of the “Religion, Communalism and Politics – Communalism, Secular State” segment of the National Council of Educational Research and Training’s textbook called “Democratic Politics II”, according to the newspaper.Also Read – Don’t Travel To Pakistan For Higher Education, UGC & AICTE Advice To Indian Students

The portion of the curriculum document states that the segment on religion, communalism and politics will continue to be part of the course content “excluding images on pages 46, 48, 49 of NCERT textbook – Democratic Politics –II – reprinted edition 2021. Also Read – All-Girls University in Pakistan Bans Smartphones Inside Campus| Here’s Why

Two excerpts dropped from CBSE Class 10 Textbooks read:

1. We remain strangers even after so many meetings, blood stains remain even after so many rains.
2. Not enough to shed tears, to suffer anguish, not enough to nurse love in secret… Today, walk in the public square fettered in chains

These excerpts were a part of NCERT Democratic Politics II, Chapter 4 – Gender, Religion and Caste, according to The Indian Express. Also Read – Cancel Board Exams 2022: CBSE, CISCE Students Demand Amid Rising COVID-19 Cases

The poem from which these verses were taken was composed by Faiz when he was being taken from a jail in Lahore, in chains, to a dentist’s office in a tonga through lanes that were familiar to him.

The second poster, with excerpts of the other Faiz poem, which he had written after his visit to Dhaka in 1974, was issued by Voluntary Health Association of India, which describes itself as a Federation of 27 state associations.

The cartoon by Ajith Ninan, which shows an empty chair adorned with religious symbols, was taken from The Times of India. The caption reads, “This chair is for the CM-designate to prove his secular credentials…There will be plenty of rocking!”

The textbook was developed by a committee chaired by the late Professor Hari Vasudevan of the University of Calcutta’s Department of History following the revision of the National Curriculum Framework in 2005.

Faiz was a nominee for the Nobel Prize for literature and in 1963 was the first Asian poet to win the Lenin Peace Prize, according to the Library of Congress. He was born in Sialkot on February 13, 1911 in pre-partition Punjab.

What else has been removed?

According to the new curriculum, chapters on “democracy and diversity” have also been removed. These chapters introduce students to the concept of social divisions and inequalities along the lines of race and caste across the world, including in India. “Popular struggle and movements” focusing on Nepal and Bolivia and, “challenges to democracy” on reforming democratic politics have also been withdrawn.

Among other Social Science themes, “impact of globalization on agriculture” from a chapter on Food Security in class 10 curriculum has been removed. In class 12 Political Science curriculum, a chapter on “Cold War Era and Non-aligned Movement” has been dropped.

A chapter on “Central Islamic Lands” which dealt with Islamic empires in Afro-Asian territories has been dropped from the Class 11 History course content, according to the newspaper.