'Under Which Govt Did 2002 Gujarat Riots Happen?': CBSE Apologises For 'Inappropriate' Question

¡°The unprecedented scale and spread of anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002 took place under which government?¡±

This is the question that was asked in the Central Board of Secondary Education¡¯s (CBSE) Sociology test Wednesday in the Term 1 Board Exams for Class 12.

Left red-faced, the Board apologised for it, called it ¡°inappropriate¡±, and promised ¡°strict action¡± against ¡°responsible persons¡±.

The options offered to answer this question ¡ª No 23 in the multiple-choice paper ¡ª were: ¡°Congress¡±, ¡°BJP¡±, ¡°Democratic¡±, and ¡°Republican¡±.

CBSE apologises

In a tweet, the CBSE posted: ¡°A question has been asked in today¡¯s Class 12 sociology Term 1 exam, which is inappropriate and in violation of the CBSE guidelines for external subject experts for setting question papers. CBSE acknowledges the error made and will take strict action against the responsible persons.¡±

A question has been asked in today's class 12 sociology Term 1 exam which is inappropriate and in violation of the CBSE guidelines for external subject experts for setting question papers.CBSE acknowledges the error made and will take strict action against the responsible persons

¡ª CBSE HQ (@cbseindia29) December 1, 2021

The CBSE guidelines for paper setters clearly state that they have to ensure the questions should be academic oriented only and should be class, religion neutral and should not touch upon domains that could harm sentiments of people based on social and political choices.

¡ª CBSE HQ (@cbseindia29) December 1, 2021

In a second tweet, the CBSE said: "The CBSE guidelines for paper setters clearly state that they have to ensure the questions should be academic-oriented only and should not touch upon domains that could harm sentiments of people based on social and political choices.¡±

Question a part of syllabus

The question appears to have been picked from a paragraph under the chapter, ¡®The Challenges of Cultural Diversity¡¯, in the NCERT Class 12 Sociology textbook, ¡®Indian Society¡¯ -- meaning that it is from the syllabus.

The paragraph, on page 134 under the sub-section, ¡®The Nation-State and Religion-Related Issues and Identities¡¯, reads: ¡°No region has been wholly exempt from communal violence of one kind or another. Every religious community has faced this violence to a greater or lesser degree, although the proportionate impact is far more traumatic for minority communities. To the extent that governments can be held responsible for communal riots, no government or ruling party can claim to be blameless in this regard. In fact, the two most traumatic contemporary instances of communal violence occurred under each of the major political parties. The anti-Sikh riots of Delhi in 1984 took place under a Congress regime. The unprecedented scale and spread of anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002 took place under a BJP government.¡±

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According to a report by the Indian Express, the CBSE exam process typically involves two panels of subject experts ¡ª paper setters and moderators ¡ª with varying numbers.

The identities of these experts are kept confidential, even from each other, and paper-setters do not know if their question papers will be used.

Moderators then review the question papers to ensure that it has been "set according to the syllabus of the subject, blueprint, design, and textbooks/ recommended books¡±, and complies with the unit-wise weightage given in the curriculum.