Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan endorsed the decision by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to add a section on the 1975-77 Emergency to Class 9 textbooks [1], [2].
The move aims to provide students with a historical understanding of a period characterized by the suspension of fundamental rights. By integrating this content into the national curriculum, the government seeks to ensure that future generations are aware of the risks associated with the erosion of democratic norms.
Pradhan said the addition of the material was the right thing to do. He said the historical record must be transparent to prevent a repeat of the events that occurred during the mid-1970s [1], [2].
The new curriculum section specifically focuses on the period between 1975 and 1977 [1]. This era remains one of the most contentious chapters in Indian political history, marked by wide-ranging arrests, and censorship.
"Students must know this dark period," Pradhan said [2].
NCERT is responsible for developing the national curriculum for schools across India. The inclusion of this specific history in Class 9 [2] textbooks ensures that students encounter the subject during their formative secondary education years. The minister's support signals a government priority to highlight the fragility of civil liberties when legal safeguards are removed [1].
“Students must know this dark period”
The inclusion of the Emergency period in national textbooks reflects an effort to institutionalize a specific interpretation of democratic failure in India. By framing the 1975-77 era as a 'dark period' within the official curriculum, the state is utilizing educational policy to reinforce the importance of fundamental rights and constitutional checks and balances to the youth.
