Naveen Patnaik voices concern over ‘omission’ of Paika rebellion from NCERT textbooks

Bhubaneswar: Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly and former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday voiced concern over the dropping of Paika rebellion from the textbook by the National Council of Educational Research and Training.

“Deeply concerned to know that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (@ncert) has dropped #Odisha’s Paika Rebellion or Paika Bidroha from its text books. The Paika rebellion was a watershed moment in Odisha’s history as our brave Paikas fought with extraordinary courage against oppressive British way back in 1817. I had urged the Govt of India many times to declare it as first war of Independence. The Paikas came together to fight against the tyranny of foreign, colonial rule with unparalleled bravery,” Patnaik wrote on X.

Calling the deletion of the subject a dishonour to the brave Paika soldiers of Odisha, he urged the Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Union Education Minister to reincorporate the subject in the textbook and do justice to the glorious legacy of Paik Bidroha.

“The omission of the epic rebellion from NCERT text books, which took place 40 years before the sepoy mutiny is a huge dishonour to our brave Paikas, 200 years after the rebellion- which became torchbearer for people’s movement against British rule. Urge Chief Minister Shri @MohanMOdisha and Union Minister of Education Shri @dpradhanbjp to ensure that justice is done to Paika Bidroha and Odisha,” the BJD supremo further added in his post on X.

The NCERT, in a press statement on Monday, issued a clarification regarding the news reports on exclusion of various regional resistance movements in the Grade 8 Social Science textbook “𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲: 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝”.

“It is clarified that the said textbook happens to be the 1st volume of this textbook. The second volume is in the final stages of development and is expected to be released in Sept-Oct 2025. Topics relating to the regional resistance movements/armed uprisings such as the Paika rebellion/Khurda uprising of Odisha, the Kuka movement/rebellion of the Sikhs in Punjab, etc, will be handled in this volume,” informed the NCERT.

IANS