The “covered-up” image of a nude artefact has been withdrawn from an Indian school textbook after it sparked a massive backlash from historians and educationists.

The bronze sculpture – known as the Dancing girl from Mohenjo-daro – shows a girl standing with one hand on her hip and is one of the most recognisable artefacts from the Indus Valley civilisation.

But in a newly released grade nine textbook, the figurine’s torso was covered with dark shading, hiding its anatomical features.

After it created an uproar, officials said that the original image has been restored in the digital version of the book and that new print editions would also carry the unedited photo of the bronze sculpture.

After news broke of the inclusion of the modified image, historians had accused the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) – which drafted the textbook – of disfiguring the iconic artefact.

The NCERT, an autonomous organisation under the federal education ministry, oversees syllabus changes and textbook content for children taking exams under the government-run Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

NCERT director Dinesh Saklani told reporters that the modified image would be withdrawn from the textbook.

“Following consultations with experts, the department is replacing the image of the Dancing Girl with its original version,” Saklani told ANI news agency.

The BBC has contacted Saklani for comment.

A chapter on the Indus Valley has been a staple in Indian school curriculum, and though the Dancing Girl sculpture has appeared in textbooks for decades – including in earlier versions of NCERT textbooks – its torso has never been censored in any way.

The NCERT has not yet shared a reason for introducing the modified image but media reports have speculated that it could be due to concerns over nudity.

An editorial in the Indian Express newspaper, which first broke the news, criticised the modification of the artifact, saying:

“The Dancing Girl has been significant not because it conforms to a blindfolded standard of modesty but because it embodies poise, confidence and unmistakable presence. If the task of education is to equip young people to engage with the world as it is, then NCERT would do better to trust both students, and women – both contemporary and millennia old – with a little more agency.”

The textbook is part of the NCERT’s new Arts Education Series, introduced under the latest National Education Policy (NEP) to integrate visual, performing and literary arts into mainstream schooling.

The Dancing Girl sculpture, which was discovered at Mohenjo-daro – one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation – depicts a girl adorned with ornaments with her hair tied in a bun.

Her posture captures the human body in motion and archaeologists have long considered the sculpture to be of great artistic value and evidence of the civilisation’s advanced knowledge of metallurgy.

The sculpture is currently housed in the National Museum in Delhi.

[BBC]

Senior Iranian officials have framed the deal as a win. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the Speaker of parliament and the leading Iranian figure in the talks, said Iran had taken “a long step towards final victory”.

President Masoud Pezeshkian has described the understanding as potentially transformative, saying that if fully implemented it could resolve many of Iran’s problems and create “a different world” in Iran and the Middle East.

Qalibaf’s role is significant because he is not identified with Pezeshkian’s moderate camp; his public support suggests the deal has backing from more powerful parts of the system even within Islamic Republic Revolutionary Guards.

A daredevil social media free-climber nicknamed the “Spider-Man of Yemen” has died after falling into a volcanic crater in the country’s south-west.

Al-Qaqa Ibn Antar had been attempting to climb its steep rock faces on Friday without safety equipment when he fell in, according to local authorities.

The 30-year-old had a large following on social media and was well known for performing daring acrobatic stunts in online videos.

The Hardah Dam volcanic crater is one of the country’s most famous natural landmarks.

Video footage appearing to show the moment of the fall has been widely circulating online.

It shows Antar climbing the near-vertical wall of the crater before appearing to lose his grip and fall.

Yemen’s Civil Defence Authority praised the “heroic efforts” of its water rescue team for successfully recovering Antar’s body “from the bottom of the crater” in a statement issued on Sunday.

It described the operation over the weekend as “highly dangerous”, and “one of the most difficult and complex field rescue missions”.

The authority said the team had been promoted after demonstrating “exceptional field capabilities amid rugged terrain, harsh environmental conditions and high temperatures inside the volcanic crater”.

It produced footage showing rescuers scaling down the side of the crater using climbing equipment, before winching a cage down to recover the climber’s body.

His body was found by divers inside the 120m-wide crater at a depth of 30m (98ft) below the water surface, according to the Associated Press.

The Hardah Dam in Dhale province has become somewhat of a tourist attraction in recent years, with a hot sulfur lake sitting at its base.

[BBC]