India, June 25 -- Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday backed the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) decision to introduce the 1975-77 National Emergency into the Class 9 Social Science syllabus, saying future generations must understand the "dark deeds of that period".

The topic has been integrated into Chapter 6 of the textbook, Understanding Society: India and Beyond. It frames the Emergency not as an isolated historical event, but as "one of the major challenges" to Indian democracy, detailing the suspension of fundamental rights, press censorship, and the mass arrest of opposition leaders under the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government.

Interacting with reporters on the sidelines of a B...