New Delhi: Notwithstanding objections by various activists who took the matter to the Supreme Court, noted historian Bipan Chandra on Sunday said references made to the Jat community in NCERT books written by him are "correct and based on historical facts" ratified by an expert committee.
"The reference is based on facts which are part of history. And many other eminent historians have endorsed these facts," Chandra, who is also the Chairman of the National Book Trust said in an interview.
Taking strong exception to some portions dealing with Jats, the Siksha Bachao Andolan Samiti and Delhi Pradesh Citizens Council moved the Supreme Court seeking deletion of certain portions from the NCERT textbooks of Antra Part I for class XI and Modern India for class XII for allegedly offending the sentiments of the community.
One of the controversial passages said "for some periods under the leadership of Jat zamindars, the peasantry which rose in rebellion against the social condition took to plunder in the period when law and order was breaking down all over northern India".
"I had written the book in 1969. The book was scrutinised word by word by an expert committee appointed by the government in 1967. The committee did not find anything objectionable in the book," Chandra said.
The expert committee comprised Professor S Gopal, Professor Nurul Hasan, Professor R S Sharma and Professor Romila Thapar.
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