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{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Dinanath Batra
| image = 
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1930|03|03}}<ref name=swaroop/>
| birth_place = [[Rajanpur]] (now in [[Pakistan]])<ref name=swaroop/>
| death_date = 
| death_place =
| nationality = [[India]]n
| ethnicity =
| other_names =
| occupation = [[Far-right]] activist
| known_for =
| spouse =
}}

'''Dinanath Batra''' (also spelled '''Dina Nath Batra''')<ref name="sonia2001">{{cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010603/haryana.htm#2|title=Vidya Bharati serves notice on Sonia|date=2 June 2001|newspaper=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]|access-date=23 May 2014}}</ref> is the former general secretary of [[Vidya Bharati]], the school network run by the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS).<ref name="sonia2001" /> He has also founded the educational activist organisations ''Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti'' and ''[[Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas]]''.<ref name="regressive">{{cite news|title=Under the BJP India will not become regressive|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/interview/ls-election-interview-dinanath-batra-under-the-bjp-india-will-not-become-regressive/20140414.htm|access-date=23 May 2014|newspaper=[[Rediff]]|date=23 April 2014}}</ref> Batra has been criticized for his school textbooks, where he has written racist, superstitious, religious, nationalistic statements.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://qz.com/india/241048/what-gujarat-govt-is-encouraging-school-children-to-read-is-dismaying/|title=What the government of Gujarat is encouraging children to read is dismaying|last=Madhok|first=Diksha|website=Quartz India|language=en|access-date=2019-12-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10995944/Top-Indian-educationalist-accused-of-racism-over-portrayal-of-criminal-negroes.html|title=Top Indian educationalist accused of racism over portrayal of criminal 'negroes'|last=Nelson|first=Dean|journal=The Daily Telegraph|date=2014-07-28|access-date=2019-12-21|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Dinanath Batra was born in 1932 in [[Dera Gazi Khan]] in Punjab, in present-day [[Pakistan]] in a [[Punjabi Hindu]] family . He worked as the headmaster of the [[Dayananda Saraswati|Dayananda Anglo-Vedic]] School at [[Dera Bassi]] in [[Patiala district]], [[Indian Punjab]]. In 1966, he was appointed headmaster of the Geeta Senior School in [[Kurukshetra]], the first school set up by the RSS.<ref name=vidya_bharati>{{cite news |first=Debashish |last=Mukerji |title=Vidya Bharati: In the RSS tradition |newspaper=The Week |date=15 November 1998 |url=http://www.hindunet.org/hvk/articles/1198/0005.html |access-date=14 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915050817/http://www.hindunet.org/hvk/articles/1198/0005.html |archive-date=15 September 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He is an [[RSS pracharak]].<ref name=vidya_bharati/>

==Activism==

===Vidya Bharati===
He was appointed as the full-time general secretary of the RSS schools network [[Vidya Bharati]] in 1990.<ref name="vidya_bharati"/><ref name=bookpolice>{{cite news|title=Dinanath Batra: Here comes the book police|url=http://www.livemint.com/Specials/ZL8MkEyTobNWPEQm05jYDL/Dinanath-Batra-Here-comes-the-book-police.html|access-date=23 May 2014|newspaper=[[Live Mint]]|date=12 February 2014}}</ref><ref name=RSSschools>
{{cite web |first=Akshay |last=Bakaya |title=India: RSS Schools and the Hindu Nationalist Education Project |publisher=South Asia Citizens Web |date=21 April 2009 |url=http://www.sacw.net/article852.html |access-date=16 September 2014}}</ref>

===Notice to Sonia Gandhi===
On 30 May 2001, Batra served a legal notice to [[Sonia Gandhi]], president of the [[Indian National Congress]]. Batra stated that a resolution passed by the [[All India Congress Committee]] at its plenary session included statements that were defamatory towards [[Vidya Bharati]]. According to Batra, the resolution had stated that textbooks used by Vidya Bharati promoted negative attitude and violence towards minorities, justified the caste system, [[sati (practice)|sati]] and [[child marriage]] as being a part of Indian culture, and contained superstitions and concocted facts inimical to [[scientific temper]].<ref name=sonia2001/>

===Litigation against NCERT===

In 2006, Batra filed a [[Public Interest Litigation]] against the [[National Council of Educational Research and Training]] (NCERT), in which he raised 70 objections about the contents of secondary school history and social science textbooks. Some objections were based on the argument that [[Lala Lajpat Rai]], [[Bal Gangadhar Tilak]], [[Bipin Chandra Pal]], [[Aurobindo Ghosh]], and [[Bhagat Singh]] had been wrongly described as "militants". Another objection was to statements that [[Indo Aryans]], including [[Brahmin]]s, had consumed beef as a part of their diet in ancient times. Batra stated that this was a falsehood, and that cows had been worshiped in India since [[Vedic period|Vedic times]]. The Delhi High Court directed NCERT to form a committee to study the objections. A three-member committee concluded that of the 70 pieces of content that had been objected to, 37 had already been replaced by that year, 29 were to remain unchanged, and 4 were to be modified. The committee declined to modify the statement about Indo-aryans eating beef, stating that it was factual.<ref name=beef>{{cite news|title=NCERT refuses to chop beef mention|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/NCERT-refuses-to-chop-beef-mention/articleshow/1581035.cms|access-date=23 May 2014|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=27 May 2006}}</ref> However, this statement was later removed from the textbooks, as a result of a decision taken by the NCERT under the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005. The process has been started by Jagmohan Singh Rajput, once an RSS member, in 2003 but it took longer than expected.<ref name=no_beef>{{Cite news|url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/NCERT-books-have-no-mention-of-beef-eating/articleshow/1636172.cms|title = NCERT books have no mention of beef-eating|date = 10 June 2006|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|access-date = 4 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=past_deleted>{{Cite news|url = http://www.asianews.it/news-en/References-to-ancient-Hindus'-beef-eating-past-deleted-from-school-textbooks-6456.html|title = References to ancient Hindus' beef-eating past deleted from textbooks|date = 16 June 2006|access-date = 4 August 2014|newspaper = Asia News}}</ref>

===Opposition to sex education===
On 15 May 2007, acting on the advice of Batra, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh [[Shivraj Singh Chouhan]] removed [[sex education]] from the state curriculum on the grounds that it offended Indian values. Batra suggested that [[yoga]] be added to the curriculum instead of sex education.<ref name=sexed>{{cite news|title=Madhya Pradesh bans sex education|url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/madhya-pradesh-bans-sex-education/25871/|access-date=23 May 2014|newspaper=[[The Indian Express]]|date=16 March 2007}}</ref> This view was criticised by S. Anandhi, a scholar of gender issues, who wrote that sex-education was aimed at combating [[child sexual abuse]], and controlling the spread of [[HIV/AIDS]] by encouraging safe sexual practices. She also stated that fundamentalist organisations were attempting to repress sexuality.<ref name="Anandhi EPW">{{cite journal|last1=Anandhi|first1=S.|title=Sex Education Conundrum|journal=Economic & Political Weekly|date=18 August 2007|volume=42|issue=33|pages= 18–24 Aug. 2007|jstor=4419913}}</ref> Later that year, Batra wrote a letter on behalf of the ''Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti'', which stated that parents can possibly book instructors on the charge of "outraging the modesty of a woman or dishonouring a person."<ref name=formerHRD>{{cite news|title=Former HRD minister feels sex education corrupts kids|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/former-hrd-minister-feels-sex-education-corrupts-kids/article1-236673.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524023303/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/former-hrd-minister-feels-sex-education-corrupts-kids/article1-236673.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 May 2014|access-date=23 May 2014|newspaper=[[Hindustan Times]]|date=15 July 2007}}</ref>

===Petition against Ramanujan's essay===

In 2008, Batra petitioned the Delhi High Court on behalf of ''Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti'', seeking the removal of [[A.K. Ramanujan]]'s essay, ''[[Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation]]'', from the Delhi University's history syllabus.<ref name=bookpolice/><ref name=unreason>{{cite news|title=The rule of unreason|url=http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2823/stories/20111118282312500.htm|access-date=23 May 2014|newspaper=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]]|date=18 November 2011}}</ref> The essay discusses the many texts and presentations of the [[Ramayana]] that appear across the globe.<ref name=unreason/> In response to the petition, the university set up a committee of experts to study the essay. The committee found nothing controversial about the work, and this sentiment was echoed by outside scholars.<ref name=unreason/> However, the university's academic council decided to remove the essay from the syllabus, in a move that was widely criticised by scholars, but welcomed by a narrow section academics in Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti.<ref name=unreason/>

===Legal notices to authors===
On 3 March 2010, Batra sent a legal notice to [[Wendy Doniger]], [[Penguin Group]] USA and the Penguin India subsidiary, raising several objections on the book ''[[The Hindus: An Alternative History]]'' by Doniger.<ref name=notice>{{cite news|title=Your Approach Is That of a Woman Hungry of Sex|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?289468|access-date=23 May 2014|newspaper=[[Outlook India]]|date=11 February 2014|archive-date=18 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318113852/http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?289468}}</ref> In 2011, Batra filed suit against Doniger and Penguin Publishing under [[Hate speech laws in India#Section 295(A)|Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code]], which punishes acts intended to cause outrage or offend the sentiments of religious communities.<ref name=ratna>{{cite news|last=Kapur|first=Ratna|title=Totalising history, silencing dissent|url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/totalising-history-silencing-dissent/article5690041.ece|access-date=15 February 2014|newspaper=The Hindu|date=15 February 2014}}</ref> In February 2014, pursuant to a settlement agreement, Penguin India withdrew all unsold copies of the book and pulped them, leading to sharp criticism.<ref name="pulp_outcry">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/13/indian-conservatives-penguin-hindus-book|title=Outcry as Penguin India pulps 'alternative' history of Hindus|date=13 February 2014|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=28 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=2014|journal=American Libraries|volume=45|issue=9/10|pages=17|issn=0002-9769|jstor=24603863|title=Global Reach—Censorship}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/17/books/author-resigned-to-ill-fate-of-book.html|title=Author Resigned to Ill Fate of Book in India|last=Williams|first=John|date=2014-02-16|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-06-03|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.firstpost.com/living/children-of-marx-macaulay-are-defaming-hinduism-dinanath-batra-1559083.html|title=Children of Marx, Macaulay are defaming Hinduism: Dinanath Batra|website=Firstpost|access-date=2019-06-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/pulped|title=Publishers failed to stand up to Dina Nath Batra in ways that matter. What will this mean for the future of debate in India?|last=Bal|first=Hartosh Singh|date=December 2014|website=[[The Caravan]]|language=en|access-date=2019-12-30}}</ref>

Later, that year he also sent a legal notice to [[N. Ram]], the editor of [[Frontline magazine]], for printing a cover article titled ''Shortcut to Hindu Rashtra''.<ref name="bookpolice" /><ref name="shortcut">{{cite news|title=Shortcut to Hindu Rashtra |url=http://pay.hindu.com/ebook%20-%20ebfl20100813.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508220317/http://pay.hindu.com/ebook%20-%20ebfl20100813.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 May 2013 |access-date=23 May 2014 |newspaper=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]] |date=13 August 2010 }}</ref> On 3 March 2014, Batra sent a legal notice to the Aleph Book Company demanding that another book by Wendy Doniger, ''On Hinduism'', be withdrawn.<ref name=onhinduism>{{cite news|title=Doniger's book on Hinduism put on hold|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/donigers-book-on-hinduism-put-on-hold/|access-date=23 May 2014|newspaper=[[The Indian Express]]|date=11 March 2014}}</ref>

In May 2014, academic publisher Orient Blackswan halted the release of a book, ''Communalism and Sexual Violence: Ahmedabad since 1969'' by Megha Kumar, after it received a legal notice from Batra claiming the book is defamatory and derogatory to the RSS. The publisher in a letter to the author explained that it was assessing the book before the release.<ref name=batra_again>{{cite news|title=It's Batra again: Book on sexual violence in Ahmedabad riots is 'set aside' by publisher|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/its-batra-again-book-on-sexual-violence-in-ahmedabad-riots-is-set-aside-by-publisher/99/|access-date=28 June 2014|work=[[The Indian Express]]|date=3 June 2014}}</ref> The publisher also put another book, ''From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India'' by Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, under review after his notice.<ref name=review_pressure>{{cite news|title=Under pressure, publisher puts books under 'review'|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Under-pressure-publisher-puts-books-under-review/articleshow/36024216.cms|access-date=28 June 2014|work=[[The Times of India]]|date=4 June 2014}}</ref>

===Textbook authorship===
On 30 June 2014, the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] government of [[Gujarat]] issued a circular, declaring six text books written by Batra to be part of the state education curriculum as supplementary literature.<ref name=mustread>{{cite news|title=Dinanath Batra's books are a must-read in Gujarat schools|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/dinanath-batra-man-behind-pulping-of-wendy-donigers-book-is-mustread-in-gujarat-schools/article6249539.ece|access-date=28 July 2014|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=25 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/man-who-got-wendy-doniger-pulped-is-made-must-reading-in-gujarat-schools/|title=Man who got Wendy Doniger pulped is made 'must reading' in Gujarat schools|date=2014-07-25|website=The Indian Express|language=en-IN|access-date=2019-06-03}}</ref> Originally written in [[Hindi]], the books were translated into [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], and were released by [[Bhupendrasinh Chudasama]], the state education minister, who stated that they were compulsory.<ref name=mustread/><ref name=supplementary>{{cite news|title=Dinanath Batra's books to become supplementary read in Gujarat schools|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/dinanath-batra-s-books-to-become-supplementary-read-in-gujarat-schools-114072501545_1.html|access-date=28 July 2014|work=[[Business Standard]]}}</ref> Batra has indicated that the initiative for using the books came from the [[Council of Ministers of Gujarat#Ministry of Narendra Modi (2001-2010)|Narendra Modi government]] in Gujarat,<ref name=blueprint>
{{cite news |title=Preparing a blueprint to 'Indianise' education: Dinanath Batra |newspaper=Firstpost |date=1 August 2014 |url=http://www.firstpost.com/india/preparing-blueprint-indianise-education-dinanath-batra-1644407.html |access-date=2014-11-14}}
</ref> and the books carry a foreword from Modi.<ref name=testtubes>{{cite news |title=Test-Tubes in Hastinapur |newspaper=[[Outlook India]]|date=22 September 2014 |access-date=28 September 2014 |url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article/TestTubes-In-Hastinapur/291554}}</ref>

The books among other things, asserted that cars were invented in ancient India and urged students to draw the geographic map of an ''Akhand Bharat'', that includes countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rss-dina-nath-batra-wants-tagore-urdu-and-arabic-words-removed-from-ncert-textbooks/story-11iigvXLLMaTBrwQ0PiApM.html|title=RSS' Dina Nath Batra wants Tagore, Urdu words removed from NCERT textbooks|date=2017-07-24|website=Hindustan Times|language=en|access-date=2019-06-03}}</ref> They received severe criticism from historians as well as the popular press. Historian [[Romila Thapar]] stated that the books contained "not history, but fantasy."<ref name=fantasy>{{cite news|title=Historians slam Dina Nath Batra books, call them 'fantasy'|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/historians-slam-dina-nath-batra-books-call-them-fantasy/article1-1245617.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729065956/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/historians-slam-dina-nath-batra-books-call-them-fantasy/article1-1245617.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 July 2014|access-date=28 July 2014|work=[[Hindustan Times]]|date=28 July 2014}}</ref> [[Irfan Habib]], another prominent historian, described them as "hilarious but scary".<ref name=fantasy/> He said that the books were being introduced as part of a political program, and also stated that "The point here is whether the person has any semblance of scholarship, any track record."<ref name=fantasy/>

On 1 August, the local [[Indian National Congress|Congress]] division in [[Vadodara]] protested the books by burning their covers. The city's [[BJP]] unit criticized the act and called it an insult to the national leaders as the covers had pictures of some national leaders.<ref name=BurnBooks>{{cite news|title=Cong burns Dinanath Batra's books|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vadodara/Cong-burns-Dinanath-Batras-books/articleshow/39458264.cms|access-date=11 December 2014|work=[[The Times of India]]|date=2 August 2014}}</ref>

===Appointment to Haryana education committee===
On 12 November 2014, the newly elected BJP government of [[Haryana]] state announced that Batra would be appointed to a new committee of educationalists. The committee would consist of retired teachers and professors from the state.<ref name=haryana_committee>{{cite news|title=Dinanath Batra to guide Haryana on education|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rss-ideologue-dinanath-batra-to-guide-haryana-on-education/article1-1285430.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112194629/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rss-ideologue-dinanath-batra-to-guide-haryana-on-education/article1-1285430.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 November 2014|access-date=14 November 2014|work=[[Hindustan Times]]|date=12 November 2014}}</ref>

=== NCERT Textbook objections ===
In July 2017, he submitted another list of objections against the NCERT textbooks on various subjects.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thewire.in/education/dinanath-batra-textbooks-ncert|title=Remove Riots, English and Urdu Words, and Praise of Mughals from Textbooks: Dinanath Batra|website=The Wire|access-date=2019-06-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.firstpost.com/india/rss-ideologue-dinanath-batra-stokes-another-controversy-wants-urdu-words-removed-from-gujarat-textbooks-3848737.html|title=RSS ideologue Dinanath Batra stokes another controversy, wants Urdu words removed from Gujarat textbooks|website=Firstpost|access-date=2019-06-03}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/dina-nath-batra-again-he-wants-tagore-urdu-words-off-school-texts-4764094/|title=Dina Nath Batra again: He wants Tagore, Urdu words off school texts|date=2017-07-24|website=The Indian Express|language=en-IN|access-date=2019-06-03}}</ref>

==Publications==

* ''The Enemies of Indianisation: The Children of Marx, Macaulay and Madarasa'', 2001<ref name="ChandraMukherjee2008">{{cite book|author1=Bipan Chandra|authorlink1=Bipan Chandra|author2=Aditya Mukherjee|author3=Mridula Mukherjee|title=India Since Independence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dE9qEg-NgHMC&pg=PA731|access-date=24 May 2014|date=1 January 2008|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0-14-310409-4|page=731}}</ref>
* {{cite book|title=Bharatiya Shiksha Ka Swaroop|publisher=Prabhat Prakashan|isbn=9789350489826|date=2014|page=272|language=Hindi}}<ref name=swaroop>{{cite web|title=Bharatiya Shiksha Ka Swaroop|language=Hindi|url=http://www.prabhatbooks.com/bharatiya-shiksha-ka-swaroop.htm|publisher=Prabhat Prakashan|access-date=14 November 2014}}</ref><ref name=foreign_uni>{{cite news|title=Dinanath Batra targets foreign universities in new book|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/141028/nation-current-affairs/article/dinanath-batra-targets-foreign-universities-new-book|access-date=14 November 2014|work=[[Deccan Chronicle]]|date=28 October 2014}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batra, Dinanath}}
[[Category:Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharaks]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian schoolteachers]]
[[Category:Hindutva]]
[[Category:Sangh Parivar]]
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:People from Rajanpur District]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educational theorists]]

Dinanath Batra - Revision history

imported>GreenC bot at 01:16, 9 August 2021