Date:04/06/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/06/04/stories/2005060413401200.htm

National

Joshi, Fernandes defend ex-NCERT Director

Special Correspondent

"Rajput is an able administrator, denied rare honour"

NEW DELHI: Two Ministers of the previous National Democratic Alliance Government, Murli Manohar Joshi and George Fernandes, on Friday declared the former Director of the National Council for Educational Research and Training, J.S. Rajput,"innocent" of all charges being probed by the Human Resource Development Ministry.

In what appears a counter-offensive against the attempt by HRD Minister Arjun Singh to "detoxify" education and rid it of communal ideology, Dr. Joshi alleged he was "acting as a tool of communist vendetta." The BJP leader declared Dr. Rajput "an able administrator, a visionary educationist" and an "innocent hard working man," who was not guilty of nepotism or of terrorising colleagues in the NCERT.

Appointments issue

Dr. Joshi defended the selection of Dr. Rajput's wife Sarla Rajput, his daughter Diksha and brother-in-law S.C. Chowhan for NCERT posts during the Director's tenure. Mrs. Rajput, he said, had been in the NCERT since 1972 and was shortlisted for a professorial position "before" Dr. Rajput became Director. His daughter was selected for a position but she preferred to join the University Grants Commission. His brother-in-law was appointed lecturer but was evaluated by a selection committee with which the then Director "had nothing to do."

Dr. Joshi alleged that while Dr. Rajput was considered for a UNESCO award, the Ministry headed by Mr. Arjun Singh wrote to the United Nations agency saying an inquiry was going on against him. Consequently India and an Indian were "deprived" of a "rare honour."

Mr. Fernandes likened this episode "to the attack on the intelligentsia in Germany [under Hitler]," and said that as a victim of the Emergency he felt that it was his duty to speak up for those who were being attacked similarly now.

Another issue Dr. Joshi took up was the replacement of some textbooks introduced during his tenure. During Dr. Rajput's tenure textbooks on ancient Indian history by Professors Romila Thapar and R.S. Sharma were replaced with the one written by Prof. Makhan Lal. Now the Thapar-Sharma textbooks were in and the Makhan Lal textbook was out.

Dr. Joshi described the Thapar-Sharma texts as "old," sometimes "factually wrong" and "not based on historical sources."

What appeared particularly galling to him was the "presumption by some historians" that Aryans were not the original inhabitants of India.

"That is totally incorrect,'' he said.