The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has dropped Odisha’s Paika rebellion of 1817 from its new Class VIII social science textbook, prompting a Samajwadi Party leader to question the NDA government’s “Odia Asmita (Odia pride)” slogan.

In 2017, the NCERT had introduced fresh content on the rebellion of Khurda in Odisha, describing it as the “first anti-British uprising” in the Class VIII history book Our Past-III.

The new social science book, Exploring Society: India and Beyond, released last week, has dropped the Paika rebellion and introduced passages on four other early resistance movements.

The Paika rebellion has seen the BJP and the BJD compete with each other to demand a special status for the revolt. In July 2017, the NDA government organised an event in the national capital to celebrate 200 years of the popular uprising.

At the event, then Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik demanded that the rebellion should be declared the first war of Independence. Then petroleum minister and current education minister Dharmendra Pradhan had thanked Patnaik for raising the demand.

The NCERT had in the same year introduced a passage on “The Khurda Uprising — A Case Study” in the Class VIII history book.

“In sum, it was the first such popular anti-British armed uprising in Odisha, which had a far-reaching effect on the future of British administration in that part of the country. To merely call it ‘Paika Rebellion’ will be an understatement,” the old book stated.

The chapter on “The Colonial Era in India” in the new book described the Sannyasi-Fakir rebellion in the aftermath of the terrible famine in Bengal in 1770 as “one of the earliest organised resistance movements”. It also gave details on the Kol uprising (1831-32) in Chota Nagpur, the Santhal Rebellion (1855-56) in present-day Jharkhand, Bihar and Bengal and the Indigo revolt (1850-62) in northeastern parts of Bengal.

Rabindra Nath Behera, Samajwadi Party’s Odisha president, said the deletion of content on the Paika rebellion was an insult to the valour and courage of the Paikas and their sacrifice in the anti-colonial struggle.

“When a young and dynamic son of Odisha, Dharmendra Pradhan, is heading the education ministry, such an act by the NCERT bears a deep scar on the pride of Odisha and the sacrifice of its worthy sons. Pradhan had forced the BJD government of Odisha to write a letter to the Centre to declare this rebellion as the first war of independence. Now the political ecosystem has forgotten about Odia pride,” Behera said.

In April 2017, descendants of 16 Paika families were felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Raj Bhavan in Odisha. The Centre had sanctioned ₹200 crore for the celebration of 200 years of the uprising.

In December 2019, then President Ram Nath Kovind had laid the foundation stone for a Paika memorial in Barunai near Khurda.

A professor of history from Utkal University said the new NCERT book should have at least retained the passage on the Paika uprising, along with other resistance movements.

“The NCERT itself had introduced content on the Paika rebellion only eight years ago. There is no academic merit to drop it while giving details about another four rebellions,” he said.