Chennai: Buckling under intense political pressure, the Central Board of Secondary Education has asked schools to remove a section of text containing “derogatory” references to women from the Nadar community of Tamil Nadu in the Social Science textbook of class 9.
In a circular issued to all 19,000 schools affiliated to it, the CBSE on Monday told them that the section named “Caste Conflict and Dress Change” considered “derogatory” be dropped from the curriculum and no questions should be asked in 2017 tests.
The controversial section, which was part of the CBSE curriculum since 2005, talks about the strict social codes regarding food and dress in parts of India in the pre-Independence era. The references to Nadar women not being allowed to cover their part of the body have been removed following vociferous protests from MPs belonging to Tamil Nadu.
Several political parties and outfits have been demanding that the section be removed from the CBSE syllabus. Sources in the NCERT, which prepares the textbooks, said though the section was part of the curriculum for the past 11 years, the protest against the references began only a few years ago and that it came primarily from political outfits.
“In May 1822, women of the Shanar caste were attacked by Nairs in public places in the southern princely state of Travancore, for wearing a cloth across their upper bodies. Over subsequent decades, a violent conflict over dress codes ensued,” the book says. Shanaras were later known as Nadars.
The book says local custom allowed only upper caste women to cover the upper part of their body in those days. Inspired by Christian missionaries, the Shanar women chose to defy the same from 1822-1859, a long struggle ensued that subjected them to assault by Nairs in public places on many occasions, the book says.
