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IIT Gandhinagar cuts ties with prof amid NCERT textbook row
IIT Gandhinagar on Friday discontinued its association with its guest professor Michel Danino, two days after the SC ordered to dissociate from him and two others involved in drafting a now-withdrawn NCERT Class 8 textbook which had a section on “corruption in the judiciary”
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The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar on Friday discontinued its association with its guest professor Michel Danino, two days after the Supreme Court ordered governments as well as public institutions to dissociate from him and two others involved in drafting a now-withdrawn National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) Class 8 textbook which had a section on “corruption in the judiciary”.
The institute will also take “corrective action” to avoid “misrepresentation” on its official website, which still carries a profile of Danino showcasing his works and achievements. His profile at the IIT Gandhinagar website describes him as “an Indian citizen” and “an independent student of Indian civilization.”
“Danino is no longer associated with IIT Gandhinagar,” said institute’s director Prof Rajat Moona, in response to HT’s queries on the decision following the Supreme Court’s March 11 order.
Born in France in 1956, Danino studied physics and engineering before moving to India in 1977 drawn by Indian philosopher and yogi Sri Aurobindo. In India, he has since been engaged in research and writing on Indian civilization. Since 2011, he has been affiliated with the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IIT Gandhinagar), where he is currently a guest professor in the Earth Science department. He was instrumental in creating the Archaeological Sciences Centre there, and taught or coordinated several courses related to Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), including “Perspectives on Indian Civilization” in a Master’s programme.
Danino was awarded the Padma Shri in 2017 for his contribution to literature and education. His books include The Lost River: On the Trail of the Sarasvati (2010), Indian Culture and India’s Future (2011), and Sri Aurobindo and India’s Rebirth (2018). In his own writings and lectures, Danino has argued against the Aryan Invasion theory and has written on the civilisational and archaeological dimensions of early Indian history. He was a scholar-in-residence at IIT Kanpur primarily between 2010 and 2014, where he delivered lecture series on Indian civilization and technology.
Moona said the syllabus of courses at IIT Gandhinagar does not follow any textbook written by Prof Danino. “Danino was associated with the Centre for Archaeological Sciences at IIT Gandhinagar. We shall take corrective action so that no misrepresentation is carried out on our website,” Moona said.
Danino declined to comment on the developments.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Centre, states, Union Territories (UTs), NCERT and universities to exclude Danino, educator Suparna Diwakar and legal researcher and trained lawyer Alok Prasanna Kumar from any role in preparing academic curriculum. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said the three should not be associated “in any manner” with the preparation or finalisation of textbooks meant for students.
Class 8 social science textbook part 2 released on February 23 and withdrawn on February 24 after 38 of 82,440 copies printed were sold and later retrieved after the Supreme Court order on February 27.
HT first reported on February 27 that the controversial chapter on the judiciary in the textbook was written by a committee of members, including a lawyer, but was not reviewed by anyone from the legal fraternity. Corruption appears in both the new Class 7 and Class 8 textbooks – both of which have two parts each. The Class 7 textbook mentions corruption in the legislature and during the election process – but not in the judiciary. The first part of the Class 8 social science textbook (the controversy is over the second part) also discussed political corruption. It depicted politicians and officials violating the model code of conduct during elections with one cartoon showing bundles of ₹500/- notes found in a candidate’s car during inspections.
