NCERT says 'Love Jihad' complaint against Class 3 textbook has 'no basis', insists on new books

NEW DELHI: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has issued a formal clarification addressing the recent controversy surrounding a Class 3 Environmental Studies textbook. As per Navbharat Times report, a complaint was lodged by Raghav Pathak, a parent from Chhatarpur, accusing NCERT of promoting "love jihad" in the textbook. NCERT clarified that the Class 3 Environmental Studies textbook in question has been replaced under the new National Curriculum Framework 2023. The subject has been replaced by a new interdisciplinary course “The World Around Us”

As per Navbharat Times report, the objection is raised against a passage on page 17, titled “Chitti Aai Hai,” in which a girl named Reema writes a letter to a boy named Ahmed, inviting him to visit Agartala. Pathak expressed discomfort with the closing of the letter, which reads, "Your Reema."

Objection to NCERT Class 3 environmental studies book

According to Navbharat Times, in the written complaint submitted to the Khajuraho Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP), Pathak expressed concern over what he described as inappropriate messaging for young children, particularly his daughter, who studies in Class 3. He demanded that the letter, specifically mentioning the characters Ahmed and Reema, be either modified or removed from the NCERT textbook.

NCERT's response to the controversy

In response to this controversy, NCERT has categorically denied any basis for the claims. The council issued a statement emphasizing that the textbook in question has already been replaced as part of its implementation of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) 2023. According to the statement, the Environmental Studies subject has been discontinued in Class 3 and has been replaced by a new interdisciplinary subject titled “The World Around Us”.

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Environmental studies replaced with new subject

As per NCERT, the new subject aims to integrate environmental education while simultaneously focusing on developing basic competencies in Science and Social Science. The official notice states, “NCERT has introduced new textbooks for this subject having a broader perspective, including social environment. Hence, instead of the old textbooks, a new one titled "Our Wonderous World" has been brought out for Class 3.”

Advisory to schools for updated NCERT textbooks

NCERT has urged schools to discontinue using old textbooks and to adopt the new books for Classes 1, 2, 3, and 6. These updated textbooks are aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and emphasize cultural rootedness, multilingualism, experiential learning, and the integration of educational technology across subjects and Classes.

The official NCERT notice read, “Details about the new textbooks and the modalities for implementing the new subject areas and textbooks are provided in an advisory sent to CBSE. This advisory has also been uploaded on the NCERT website- https://ncert.nic.in/pdf/announcement/NCERT-Advisoryfor-Schools.pd"NCERT has appealed to parents and schools to follow the updated curriculum and assured that the changes are aimed at providing students with a comprehensive, inclusive education.