E-Paper
Undo changes in history textbook, says SGPC panel
The six-member sub-committee was formed to probe the alleged deletion of chapters on Sikh gurus from the book.
Claiming that facts have been distorted in the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB)’s Class 12 history textbooks and chapters on Sikh Gurus were omitted, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has demanded that all the changes in the textbook be withdrawn and two of its representatives be appointed as experts for the syllabus committee.
The six-member sub-committee was formed to probe the alleged deletion of chapters on Sikh gurus from the textbook.
As per directions of SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal, the sub-committee members — Surinder Singh and Harjinder Kaur , SGPC members from Anandpur Sahib and Chandigarh; SGPC director for education Jatinder Singh Sidhu, SGPC education secretary Avtar Singh Saimpla, principal of Guru Nanak Girls College, Muktsar, Tejinder Kaur Dhaliwal and SGPC additional secretary for Dharam Parchar Committee Simarjit Singh— held a meeting at the Panth Rattan Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra Institute in Patiala on Wednesday.
“The panel has demanded all the chapters on Sikh Gurus should be reintroduced in the book and other changes to which the Sikh masses have raised objections should be removed,” said a member of the sub-committee. He said they have also sought the appointment of two SGPC experts on the syllabus committee.
Harjinder Kaur also sought a ban on the textbook, alleging a conspiracy behind the alterations. She claimed that the ‘Ram Bhakti’ movement has been given primacy in the book. Pointing to another ‘distortion’, the panel members pointed out that three, instead of five baptized Sikhs, were shown with Banda Singh Bahadur in the book. Similarly, the word ‘appointment’ has been used in place of the ‘anointment’ of Guru Angad Dev to the ‘gurgaddi’.
