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{{short description| | {{short description|Hindutva author|bot=PearBOT 5}} | ||
{{pp-extended|small=yes}} | |||
{{Infobox person | |||
| name = Michel Danino | |||
| image = Michel Danino.png | |||
| caption = Danino in 2016 | |||
| birth_date = | |||
| birth_place = [[Honfleur]], France | |||
| occupation = Author | |||
| honours = [[Padma Shri]] (2017) | |||
}} | |||
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} | {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} | ||
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2020}} | {{Use Indian English|date=February 2020}} | ||
'''Michel Danino''' | '''Michel Danino''' is an author who currently serves as the chairperson of the [[National Council of Educational Research and Training]]'s (NCERT) social science curriculum. A proponent of [[Hindutva]], he has been criticised for engaging in [[Hindutva pseudohistory|historical negationism]]. | ||
== Biography == | |||
Michel Danino was born in [[Honfleur]], France. Danino spent a few years in [[Auroville]], [[Tamil Nadu]], before shifting to the [[Nilgiri Mountains]] in 1982, where he resided for two decades.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://theprint.in/india/education/auroville-drew-michel-danino-to-india-he-now-leads-ncert-team-drafting-new-social-science-textbooks/2718333/ |title=Auroville drew Michel Danino to India. He now leads NCERT team drafting new social science textbooks |first=Fareeha |last=Iftikhar |date=12 August 2025 |website=[[ThePrint]]}}</ref> In 2003, he settled near [[Coimbatore]]. In an interview, he said that he had obtained Indian citizenship.<ref name="rediff">{{cite web |last=Pande Daniel |first=Vaihayasi |date=May 22, 2010 |title=The Sarasvati was more sacred than Ganga |url=http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/may/22/interview-with-michel-danino.htm |access-date=8 August 2011 |work=[[Rediff.com]] |quote=Technically, I am not a 'foreigner': I adopted Indian citizenship some years ago.}}</ref> | |||
He currently serves as the chairperson of the [[National Council of Educational Research and Training]] (NCERT) curriculum committee for social science. He is also a visiting professor in the ''Department of Humanities and Social Sciences'' at [[IIT Gandhinagar]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Iftikhar |first=Fareeha |date=24 August 2024 |title=‘Keeping Indian civilisation accomplishments out of school syllabus wrong ideology,’ says Michel Danino |url=https://theprint.in/india/keeping-indian-civilisation-accomplishments-out-of-school-syllabus-wrong-ideology-says-michel-danino/2237096/ |website=[[ThePrint]]}}</ref> In 2017, the Indian government, under [[Prime Minister of India|prime minister]] [[Narendra Modi]], conferred upon him the [[Padma Shri]], the country's fourth-highest civilian award.<ref>{{cite web |date=25 January 2017 |title=Ministry of Home Affairs Press Note |url=http://padmaawards.gov.in/PDFS/PadmaAwards-2017_25012017.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129231739/http://www.padmaawards.gov.in/PDFS/PadmaAwards-2017_25012017.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-29 |website=Padma Awards}}</ref> | |||
== Works and views == | |||
{{Further information|Hindutva pseudohistory}} | |||
Danino's works and views are influenced by [[Sri Aurobindo]], who speculated against the [[Indo-Aryan migrations]].<ref name=padma2/> Danino translated ''[[Mirra_Alfassa|Mother's Agenda]]'', the 13 volume biography of [[Mirra Alfassa]], from French to English.<ref name=padma2>[https://www.rediff.com/news/interview/the-past-has-a-knack-of-exploding-in-our-faces/20180917.htm 'The past has a knack of exploding in our faces'], [[Rediff]], 19 September 2018.</ref> ''Sri Aurobindo and India's Rebirth'' (2018) describes Danino's views on the development of Aurobindo's thought.<ref name=padma2/> | |||
== | === Indigenous Aryanism === | ||
{{Further information|Indigenous Aryanism}} | |||
In ''The Invasion that Never was'', published by Danino in 1996, he argued against the [[Indo-Aryan migrations|academically accepted view]] that the [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryans]] originated in [[Central Asia]], before migrating to India. Furthermore, he has falsely said, "No ancient or medieval Indian text would support the Aryan invasion theory" and "It is genetically proven that Aryans and [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidians]] belong to the same race."<ref name=":1" /> | |||
=== Saraswati River === | |||
Danino wrote ''The Lost River: On The Trail of the Sarasvatī'' in 2010, arguing against longstanding scholarly consensus. In the book, Danino sought to connect the [[Hindu mythology|Hindu mythological]] [[Saraswati River]], first mentioned in the [[Rigveda]], an [[Hindu texts|ancient Hindu text]], with the current [[Ghaggar-Hakra River]].<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Times of India|title=TOI Crest: Quick review|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/stoi/TOI-Crest-Quick-review/articleshow/5988271.cms|access-date=17 February 2020|date=29 May 2010}}</ref> Danino has defended the inclusion of names such as "Sindhu-Saraswati" and "Indus-Saraswati", as alternatives for the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]], in [[NCERT textbook controversies#Changes in content during the BJP government (2014–present)|NCERT Textbooks]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chopra |first=Ritika |date=20 August 2024 |title=Calling Harappan Civilization Sindhu Sarasvati in new textbooks is based on established scholarship, not politics: NCERT Social Science panel head |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/education/calling-harappan-civilization-sindhu-sarasvati-in-new-textbooks-is-based-on-established-scholarship-not-politics-ncert-social-science-panel-head-9522766/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240820005131/https://indianexpress.com/article/education/calling-harappan-civilization-sindhu-sarasvati-in-new-textbooks-is-based-on-established-scholarship-not-politics-ncert-social-science-panel-head-9522766/ |archive-date=20 August 2024 |website=[[The Indian Express]]}}</ref> He has argued that the drying of the Saraswati River was the cause of Indus Valley Civilisation's collapse.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=1 February 2013 |title='Indian history was distorted by the British' |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/kolkata/indian-history-was-distorted-by-the-british/story-0XmF9oSZpLPrFMcdwQdsOP.html |website=[[Hindustan Times]]}}</ref> | |||
== Reception == | |||
A proponent of [[Hindutva]], he has been criticised for his [[Sectarianism|sectarian scholarship]] and [[historical negationism]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Guha |first=Sudeshna |date=2005 |title=Negotiating Evidence: History, Archaeology and the Indus Civilisation |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=399–426 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X04001611 |issn=0026-749X |jstor=3876625 |s2cid=145463239}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chadha |first=Ashish |date=2011-02-01 |title=Conjuring a river, imagining civilisation: Saraswati, archaeology and science in India |journal=Contributions to Indian Sociology |language=en |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=55–83 |doi=10.1177/006996671004500103 |issn=0069-9667 |s2cid=144701033}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bhatt |first=Chetan |date=2000-01-01 |title=Dharmo rakshati rakshitah : Hindutva movements in the UK |journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=559–593 |doi=10.1080/014198700328999 |issn=0141-9870 |s2cid=144085595}}</ref> | |||
Historian [[Peter Heehs]]' opinion of one of Danino's works, ''Sri Aurobindo and Indian Civilization'', is that it was lacking in linguistic knowledge, and made up of attacks on colonial orientalists and half-informed invocations of nationalist orientalists. Heehs also criticised Danino's other works for appropriating [[Sri Aurobindo]] in his campaign against the [[Indo-Aryan migrations]], and for distorting Aurobindo's speculative views as assertions. Heehs added that Danino selectively cherry-picked quotes from his draft-manuscripts and ignored his published works, which were far more nuanced.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Heehs |first=Peter |date=2003 |title=Shades of Orientalism: Paradoxes and Problems in Indian Historiography |journal=History and Theory |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=169–195 |doi=10.1111/1468-2303.00238 |issn=0018-2656 |jstor=3590880}}</ref> | |||
=== NCERT social science curriculum changes and controversy === | |||
{{Main|NCERT textbook controversies#Changes in content during the BJP government (2014–present)}} | |||
As head of NCERT’s social science committee, Danino has overseen the presentation of a gentle and sanitised version of Indian history. For instance, under his leadership, the Class 8 social science textbooks portray the [[Maratha Empire]] in a favourable light, while depicting the [[Mughal Empire]] highly negatively. Critics have characterised the changes as an ideological move. In an interview with [[ThePrint]], Danino denied any ideological bias. In the same interview, he said, "We avoid all unpleasantness, thinking perhaps that this is going to, you know, traumatise the student and so on."<ref name="padma5">{{Cite web |last=Iftikhar |first=Fareeha |date=1 August 2025 |title=‘Honest history, not ideology’—NCERT social science panel chief on changes in Class 8 textbook |url=https://theprint.in/india/education/honest-history-not-ideology-ncert-social-science-panel-chief-on-changes-in-class-8-textbook/2709459/ |access-date= |website=ThePrint |language=en-US}}</ref> | |||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
*[[ | * [[Hindutva pseudohistory]] | ||
*[[ | * [[:Category:Indigenous Aryanists|Indigenous Aryanists]] | ||
== References == | == References == | ||
| Line 25: | Line 49: | ||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
{{Wikiquote}} | |||
* | *{{cite web|url=http://www.iitgn.ac.in/faculty/humanities/michel.htm|title=Michel Danino |website=IIT Gandhinagar |access-date=12 November 2013|archive-date=4 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104112249/http://www.iitgn.ac.in/faculty/humanities/michel.htm|url-status=dead}} | ||
{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Literature & Education}}{{Sangh Parivar|Michel Danino=Michel Danino}}{{Authority control}} | {{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Literature & Education}}{{Sangh Parivar|Michel Danino=Michel Danino}}{{Authority control}} | ||
| Line 33: | Line 57: | ||
[[Category:1956 births]] | [[Category:1956 births]] | ||
[[Category:Living people]] | [[Category:Living people]] | ||
[[Category:French | [[Category:20th-century Indian writers]] | ||
[[Category:21st-century Indian writers]] | |||
[[Category:Pseudo-scholarship]] | |||
[[Category:French Indologists]] | |||
[[Category:Indian Indologists]] | |||
[[Category:Indigenous Aryanists]] | |||
[[Category:20th-century French writers]] | [[Category:20th-century French writers]] | ||
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature and education]] | |||
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature | |||
[[Category:Pseudohistorians]] | [[Category:Pseudohistorians]] | ||
[[Category:Historical negationists]] | |||
Latest revision as of 01:40, 14 March 2026
Michel Danino | |
|---|---|
 Danino in 2016 | |
| Born | Honfleur, France |
| Occupation | Author |
| Honours | Padma Shri (2017) |
Michel Danino is an author who currently serves as the chairperson of the National Council of Educational Research and Training's (NCERT) social science curriculum. A proponent of Hindutva, he has been criticised for engaging in historical negationism.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Michel Danino was born in Honfleur, France. Danino spent a few years in Auroville, Tamil Nadu, before shifting to the Nilgiri Mountains in 1982, where he resided for two decades.[1] In 2003, he settled near Coimbatore. In an interview, he said that he had obtained Indian citizenship.[2]
He currently serves as the chairperson of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) curriculum committee for social science. He is also a visiting professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Gandhinagar.[3] In 2017, the Indian government, under prime minister Narendra Modi, conferred upon him the Padma Shri, the country's fourth-highest civilian award.[4]
Works and views[edit | edit source]
Danino's works and views are influenced by Sri Aurobindo, who speculated against the Indo-Aryan migrations.[5] Danino translated Mother's Agenda, the 13 volume biography of Mirra Alfassa, from French to English.[5] Sri Aurobindo and India's Rebirth (2018) describes Danino's views on the development of Aurobindo's thought.[5]
Indigenous Aryanism[edit | edit source]
In The Invasion that Never was, published by Danino in 1996, he argued against the academically accepted view that the Indo-Aryans originated in Central Asia, before migrating to India. Furthermore, he has falsely said, "No ancient or medieval Indian text would support the Aryan invasion theory" and "It is genetically proven that Aryans and Dravidians belong to the same race."[6]
Saraswati River[edit | edit source]
Danino wrote The Lost River: On The Trail of the Sarasvatī in 2010, arguing against longstanding scholarly consensus. In the book, Danino sought to connect the Hindu mythological Saraswati River, first mentioned in the Rigveda, an ancient Hindu text, with the current Ghaggar-Hakra River.[7] Danino has defended the inclusion of names such as "Sindhu-Saraswati" and "Indus-Saraswati", as alternatives for the Indus Valley Civilisation, in NCERT Textbooks.[8] He has argued that the drying of the Saraswati River was the cause of Indus Valley Civilisation's collapse.[6]
Reception[edit | edit source]
A proponent of Hindutva, he has been criticised for his sectarian scholarship and historical negationism.[9][10][11]
Historian Peter Heehs' opinion of one of Danino's works, Sri Aurobindo and Indian Civilization, is that it was lacking in linguistic knowledge, and made up of attacks on colonial orientalists and half-informed invocations of nationalist orientalists. Heehs also criticised Danino's other works for appropriating Sri Aurobindo in his campaign against the Indo-Aryan migrations, and for distorting Aurobindo's speculative views as assertions. Heehs added that Danino selectively cherry-picked quotes from his draft-manuscripts and ignored his published works, which were far more nuanced.[12]
NCERT social science curriculum changes and controversy[edit | edit source]
As head of NCERT’s social science committee, Danino has overseen the presentation of a gentle and sanitised version of Indian history. For instance, under his leadership, the Class 8 social science textbooks portray the Maratha Empire in a favourable light, while depicting the Mughal Empire highly negatively. Critics have characterised the changes as an ideological move. In an interview with ThePrint, Danino denied any ideological bias. In the same interview, he said, "We avoid all unpleasantness, thinking perhaps that this is going to, you know, traumatise the student and so on."[13]
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Iftikhar, Fareeha (12 August 2025). "Auroville drew Michel Danino to India. He now leads NCERT team drafting new social science textbooks". ThePrint.
- ↑ Pande Daniel, Vaihayasi (22 May 2010). "The Sarasvati was more sacred than Ganga". Rediff.com. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
Technically, I am not a 'foreigner': I adopted Indian citizenship some years ago.
- ↑ Iftikhar, Fareeha (24 August 2024). "'Keeping Indian civilisation accomplishments out of school syllabus wrong ideology,' says Michel Danino". ThePrint.
- ↑ "Ministry of Home Affairs Press Note" (PDF). Padma Awards. 25 January 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2017.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 'The past has a knack of exploding in our faces', Rediff, 19 September 2018.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "'Indian history was distorted by the British'". Hindustan Times. 1 February 2013.
- ↑ "TOI Crest: Quick review". The Times of India. 29 May 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ↑ Chopra, Ritika (20 August 2024). "Calling Harappan Civilization Sindhu Sarasvati in new textbooks is based on established scholarship, not politics: NCERT Social Science panel head". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 20 August 2024.
- ↑ Guha, Sudeshna (2005). "Negotiating Evidence: History, Archaeology and the Indus Civilisation". Modern Asian Studies. 39 (2): 399–426. doi:10.1017/S0026749X04001611. ISSN 0026-749X. JSTOR 3876625. S2CID 145463239.
- ↑ Chadha, Ashish (1 February 2011). "Conjuring a river, imagining civilisation: Saraswati, archaeology and science in India". Contributions to Indian Sociology. 45 (1): 55–83. doi:10.1177/006996671004500103. ISSN 0069-9667. S2CID 144701033.
- ↑ Bhatt, Chetan (1 January 2000). "Dharmo rakshati rakshitah : Hindutva movements in the UK". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 23 (3): 559–593. doi:10.1080/014198700328999. ISSN 0141-9870. S2CID 144085595.
- ↑ Heehs, Peter (2003). "Shades of Orientalism: Paradoxes and Problems in Indian Historiography". History and Theory. 42 (2): 169–195. doi:10.1111/1468-2303.00238. ISSN 0018-2656. JSTOR 3590880.
- ↑ Iftikhar, Fareeha (1 August 2025). "'Honest history, not ideology'—NCERT social science panel chief on changes in Class 8 textbook". ThePrint.
External links[edit | edit source]
- "Michel Danino". IIT Gandhinagar. Archived from the original on 4 January 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2013.