Overview
- NCERT said it has replaced the digitally altered image of the 4,500‑year‑old Mohenjodaro Dancing Girl with the original photograph in the Class 9 arts textbook and will carry the unedited image in future print editions.
- The digital edition had briefly shown a modified version that covered parts of the figurine’s torso, a change NCERT described as intended to make materials more age‑appropriate but did not publicly fully explain.
- Historians, teachers, students and commentators criticised the edit and the council removed the altered file after public backlash, with officials saying expert consultations led to the restoration.
- Commentators link the episode to a broader climate of institutional risk‑aversion at NCERT after a February Supreme Court intervention over a different textbook and raise the possibility of internal pre‑censorship mechanisms being used, an allegation reported in commentary.
- The debate has shifted to policy priorities, with critics arguing that protecting children’s wellbeing would be better addressed by regulating online and mobile content rather than altering historical artefacts in school books.