The National Council for Educational Research and Training on Tuesday said it has removed references to Khalistan from the Class 12 political science textbook. Khalistan refers to an independent Sikh state sought by some groups.

The changes to the textbook were made after the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee last month raised objections about the content.

It had alleged that the NCERT misrepresented historical details about Sikhs in the textbook. The Sikh body had particularly objected to the mentioning of the Anandpur Sahib resolution in the textbook, Politics In India Since Independence.

The Anandpur Sahib resolution was a document adopted by the Shiromani Akali Dal in 1973. The resolution affirmed the party’s commitment to the Sikh religion and demanded greater autonomy for Punjab. It also demanded that the city of Chandigarh should be handed over to Punjab and that Punjabi should be given second-language status in neighbouring states.

In the textbook, a passage about the resolution read: “The resolution also spoke of the aspirations of the Sikh community and declared its goal as attaining the ‘bolbala’ [dominance] of the Sikhs. The resolution was a plea for strengthening federalism, but it could also be interpreted as a plea for a separate Sikh nation.”

On Tuesday, the NCERT said that the sentence – “but it could also be interpreted as a plea for a separate Sikh nation” has been dropped. The line preceding this – “the resolution was a plea for strengthening federalism” has been retained.

Another sentence, “The more extreme elements started advocating secession from India and the creation of ‘Khalistan’” has also been removed.

The Department of School Education and Literacy Secretary, Sanjay Kumar, said that the decision to remove the references was taken by an expert committee of the NCERT to prevent the possibility of reading the sentences out of context, reported The Indian Express.

“A corrigendum has been issued by NCERT,” he said. “While the physical books for the new academic session have already been printed, the changes will reflect in the digital books.”

The action comes amidst the NCERT’s sweeping changes in its updated history and political science textbooks. The new textbooks dropped paragraphs on attempts by Hindu extremists to assassinate Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and the ban imposed on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh after his killing, among other subjects.