Michel Danino | |
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 Danino in 2016 | |
| Born | Honfleur, France |
| Occupation | Author |
| Honours | Padma Shri (2017) |
Michel Danino is an author who currently serves as the chairperson of theNational Council of Educational Research and Training's (NCERT) social science curriculum. A proponent ofHindutva, he has been criticised for engaging inhistorical negationism.
Michel Danino was born inHonfleur, France. Danino spent a few years inAuroville,Tamil Nadu, before shifting to theNilgiri Mountains in 1982, where he resided for two decades.[1] In 2003, he settled nearCoimbatore. In an interview, he said that he had adopted Indian citizenship.[2]
He currently serves as the chairperson of theNational Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) curriculum committee for social science. He is also a visiting professor in theDepartment of Humanities and Social Sciences atIIT Gandhinagar.[3] In 2017, the Indian government, underprime ministerNarendra Modi, conferred upon him thePadma Shri, the country's fourth-highest civilian award.[4]
Danino's works and views are influenced bySri Aurobindo, who speculated against theIndo-Aryan migrations.[5] Danino translatedMother's Agenda, the 13 volume biography ofMirra 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]
InThe Invasion that Never was, published by Danino in 1996, he argued against theacademically accepted view that theIndo-Aryans originated inCentral 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 andDravidians belong to the same race."[6]
Danino wroteThe Lost River: On The Trail of the Sarasvatī in 2010, arguing against longstanding scholarly consensus. In the book, Danino sought to connect theHindu mythologicalSaraswati River, first mentioned in theRigveda, anancient Hindu text, with the currentGhaggar-Hakra River.[7] Danino has defended the inclusion of names such as "Sindhu-Saraswati" and "Indus-Saraswati", as alternatives for theIndus Valley Civilisation, inNCERT Textbooks.[8] He has argued that the drying of the Saraswati River was the cause of Indus Valley Civilisation's collapse.[6]
A proponent ofHindutva, he has been criticised for hissectarian scholarship andhistorical negationism.[9][10][11]
HistorianPeter 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 appropriatingSri Aurobindo in his campaign against theIndo-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]
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 theMaratha Empire in a favourable light, while depicting theMughal Empire highly negatively. Critics have characterised the changes as an ideological move. In an interview withThePrint, 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]
Technically, I am not a 'foreigner': I adopted Indian citizenship some years ago.
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