The NCERT has shot off a letter to the Goa Education Board chief demanding an explanation on why History and Hindi textbooks for class 10 were withdrawn.
Chairman, Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education of Goa, Bhaskar Naik had last week said that the decision to withdraw the NCERT book was taken in view of '24 mistakes' and objections raised on a picture of a French Commander shown smoking.
In its letter, NCERT spokesman Bishnu Charan Patro termed as totally false, baseless and misleading Naik's remarks about mistakes.
He also contested Naik's claim that the NCERT had admitted to the book containing the mistakes in an affidavit before Delhi High Court.
'NCERT has never filed any affidavit in any court nor has it ever admitted any mistake in relation to the said history textbook for class 10 titled 'India and the Contemporary World-II,' he said.
Naik was asked to give the specific reasons behind the withdrawal of the History and Hindi textbooks and furnish all the details point by point with documents relating to NCERT's reported 'admission' of mistakes.
About objections on the picture of General Henry Navarre, Supreme Commander of French Armies in the History book, the NCERT spokesman said it is a 'historical' photograph given in the context of the chapter on the nationalist movement in Indo-China and had nothing to do with smoking nor has it anything to do with encouraging students to smoke.
'Modern technology cannot be used to erase the cigarrette from the photo which would be considered as distortion of historical facts,' he said.
When contacted in Goa, Naik said he has not received the NCERT communication and would not comment without going through the contents.
