Overview
- NCERT released the updated Class 8 Social Science volume on February 23, reframing Partition to say Gandhi and most Congress leaders opposed it but accepted it as the only way forward.
- The book broadens reasons for Britain’s exit to include uprisings, revolutionary actions, RIAF and RIN mutinies, and post‑WWII British decline, moving beyond a solely Congress‑centric view.
- Descriptions of Jallianwala Bagh note the lack of a British apology, and Direct Action Day is linked to fear and the sense that Partition had become unavoidable.
- The text restores regional and revolutionary material, adding the Paika Sangram and expanded Cellular Jail accounts, including references to Barindra Ghose and V. D. Savarkar.
- A new chapter on the judiciary cites heavy case backlogs and alleged corruption; the BJP welcomed the overall revisions, Congress leaders condemned them, and India Today reported the Chief Justice objected and took suo motu note while Kapil Sibal questioned the focus on courts.