Indian revolutionaries have been given a detailed mention in the history section of the new NCERT Class VIII Social Science textbook. The book also prominently mentions freedom movement in the North-East and Odisha.It covers the works of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) leaders Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekar Azad and women revolutionaries, including Jattvibeiti Chowdhury and Shanti Ghosh. The mutinies of Royal Indian Air Force and Royal Indian Navy have also been credited for India’s independence. The critics have long argued that they were omitted from the school textbooks.The book, Exploring Society: India and Beyond, also claims that Hindu Mahasabha under VD Savarkar saw Hindus and Muslims as ‘two distinct nations living side by side’ but never explicitly asked for the Partition.On December 24, 2018, PM Narendra Modi issued a commemorative stamp and coin recognising the Paika Rebellion.  Now, Paika rebellion against colonialism in Odisha has also been covered in the book.The new NCERT book also mentions the uprising in Sambalpur, the longest rebellion against the British that lasted from 1827 to 1862.Freedom movements in the North-East India prior to 1857, such as the Khasi Revolt (1829-1833) led by Tirot Sing in Meghalaya and the Singpho Rebellion (1830-1840s), a tribal revolt against British rule in the eastern part of Assam have also been introduced.“Maniram Dewan and Piyali Baruah were publicly hanged by the British during the 1857 rebellion in Assam. Later in the 1942 Quit India Movement, a number of martyrs such as Kanak Lata Baruah and Kushal Konwar laid down their lives. Similarly, in Manipur, Rani Gaidinliu started fighting against the British since the age of 13. She urged the people not to pay taxes and also not to work for colonial masters,” the book states.The book also gives the context to the debate on the reasons for the exit of the British from India. It points out that the independence was a ‘hard won, collective victory’.“The earlier view was that it was mostly thanks to Gandhi, his doctrine of nonviolence, and the Congress’s policies. This view has given way to a recognition that multiple other factors were also at work the popular uprisings, the numerous attempts by revolutionaries, the mutinies in the Royal Indian Air Force and the Royal Indian Navy. Also, Britain’s diminished status after World War II, and the worldwide trend towards decolonisation -the age of empires was over, at least in that form,” the book states.On the topic of Partition, the book has revised the reference to the role of Congress in India’s Partition. It now says the Partition plan was widely opposed by the Congress and the Partition resulted from disagreements between the two communities. Last year, in a module, the NCERT held the Congress, Lord Mountbatten and Mohammad Ali Jinnah responsible for the Partition which invited huge opposition from the Congress.