Narendra Modi is rewriting Indian history
The prime minister is retrofitting his country’s past to control its future
At the start of the academic year this month, 12th-year students of history and politics at tens of thousands of schools across India returned to a syllabus and textbooks that had been significantly altered. Tweaks are good when they reflect new thinking in a discipline or correct blind spots. Those overseen by the National Council of Educational Research and Training do not do that. Rather, they reflect the strident vision of nativism, known as Hindutva, adhered to by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leader, Narendra Modi. Disdaining the actual record, it imagines India as a purely Hindu land.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Rewriting Indian history”
From the April 15th 2023 edition
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