History Textbook Suggestions
A parliamentary committee asked for suggestions for changes to the existing NCERT history texts. These were my suggestions, which I tried to keep short and sweet.
When talking about the ancient peopling of India, cover genetic evidence, which shows that North Indians and South Indians are on the exact same genetic cline, all the way from Pashtuns to the southern tip of the country. Remind students that the biggest discovered Indus Valley sites, such as Rakhigarhi, are in India and not Pakistan. Mention that many items - such as citrus fruits - spread to the world from here.
Do not glorify Socialism or Leftist ideologies. Talk about the purges and the tens of millions of deaths in the Soviet Union and China after the Communist takeovers. Talk about how people would die trying to flee across the Berlin Wall to the West. Talk about how Communist states were police states where citizens were constantly monitored and not free to speak or do as they wanted. Also about how all the Communist states were economic failures where people had to stand in long lines to buy basic things like bread and clothes - show historical photographs of this.
Talk about India's industrial houses, such as the Tata's and their rise and contributions. About how they established themselves. Show how Indians everywhere have always succeeded with the free market, including in Indian diasporas in America, Britain, South Africa, Guyana, Mauritius, where they have always risen to the highest levels of prosperity.
Cover more Japanese history. Talk about the Meiji Restoration which took that country went from a Medieval power to an economic powerhouse in a few decades. Do not incorrectly ascribe this to cultural factors but talk about the changes in policy that led to this. Show the powerful contrast with India: Thomas Roe presented a cuckoo clock to Jahangir's court and no one there was interested in finding how it works, while Admiral Perry presented a Toy train to the Japanese court in 1853 and within two decades Japan sent students to Western universities to learn and had a functioning railroad by 1872.
Properly cover the fact that the Mughals submitted to Maratha and Sikh power 100 years before the British took over. About how the Mughals were a protectorate of the Marathas, and about how the Sikhs conquered half of Afghanistan and brought the majority of Pashtuns under Sikh rule. Talk about how Afghanistan wants this land back from Pakistan since Sikh power and British rule has ended, and that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a disputed province. Talk about how the Dogras expanded and established their rule in Jammu and Kashmir and how they took back Ladakh, Gilgit, Baltistan and Hunza for India.
Talk about the most important change in our neighbourhood in the past 75 years, which is the massive prosperity of Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, China. Talk about how each of them reformed and opened their economy and eliminated poverty. How South Korea went from a disaster to one of the most advanced countries in the world. Talk about how the average height in South Korea is several inches taller than that in North Korea due to better prosperity and nutrition. This will inspire students to similarly transform India.