We're not surprised when religious zealots in some benighted part of the American heartland ban the teaching of evolution in the local school, but what could have possessed the national government of a grown-up country like India to do the same thing?
The National Council of Educational Research and Training, which develops the Indian school curriculum and textbooks, didn't stop there. It also ended any mention of the periodic table in the textbooks and removed the chapters on democracy and diversity, political parties, and challenges to democracy.
Why would the Indian government want the average Indian student to be ill-informed about science, democratic politics, and respect for diversity? Well, that's exactly what Prime Minister Narendra Modi is aiming for.
