NCERT textbook row: BJP says they respect judiciary; Cong hits out

New Delhi: The political row over an NCERT textbook chapter on judicial corruption escalated on Thursday after the Supreme Court imposed a “complete blanket ban” on the Class 8 NCERT book and ordered that all copies, physical and digital, be seized. The court observed that there appeared to be a “well-orchestrated conspiracy” to defame the judiciary while directing the action.

Reacting to the development, the Bharatiya Janata Party termed the issue a “sensitive matter” and underlined its respect for the country’s judicial system. Asked about the controversy, BJP national spokesperson Sabmit Patra said, “So far as the NCERT issue is concerned, it’s a sensitive matter. I would like to put forth the party’s stand as its spokesperson that there is no other institution, I would say not only in India but in this whole world, that is as independent and as deserving as the Indian judiciary is.”

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said: “The Supreme Court is rightly agitated... the way NCERT textbooks have been rewritten over the past decade is disgraceful, apart from being dangerous as well. It has been a RSS-driven exercise full of mischief and malice...”