NEW DELHI -- Textbooks in India's primary and secondary schools are increasingly tilting to the right. Arbitrary revisions promoting Hindu nationalism are being made to textbooks in states under the influence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. Critics say it is a sign that Hindu nationalists, a major support base for the party, are exerting greater influence.
On Tuesday, public school students in the western state of Rajasthan started a new academic year with a new social studies textbook that omitted all information about Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister. Also, the world-famous Indus Valley Civilization is now taught as Sindhu-Saraswati Culture -- Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of wisdom -- even though Hinduism was established after the Indus civilization.
