Bengaluru: Academics, authors demand scrapping of new textbooks

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“The mandate of the committee was to merely submit a report to a group of academic experts on the misleading content in the textbook. However, without the mandate for revision, the committee revised the textbooks from Classes I-X (Kannada), Classes II-IV (environmental science) and Classes VI-X (social science). Moreover, the revised content is in violation of the national curriculum framework.”

Rajashekar VN, vice president of AISE, claimed the textbook revision committee inserted a chapter on Bharatvarsha (Akhanda Bharat) in the Class VIII social science textbook. The chapter apparently mentions that countries like Myanmar, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh were part of India. “We were critical when the textbooks were revised by the Congress in 2002 and also by the BJP in 2012. However, this year, the revision has added fuel to the fire. The textbooks… are clearly out of sync with India’s constitutional and democratic values. The chapter on Bharatvarsha is clearly out of the sangh parivar and the BJP’s playbook. We need the government to withdraw these changes and restore the previous committee’s textbooks.”

Rajashekar further said the Class VIII social science textbook mentions Indus Valley civilisation as Hindu Saraswati civilisation and equates Vedic dharma with Sanatana dharma. He added that the portion related to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination by Nathuram Godse was removed from the textbook.

SG Siddaramiah, a writer who revoked permission to use his work in Class X Kannada textbook, said: “If the state government has dissolved the textbook revision committee, then why are the revised textbooks being distributed? With so many distorted facts on India, it is clear that the government is introducing shakha lessons into school lessons…”

Notably, the incumbent BJP government Tuesday decided to make changes in revised portions of Class IX textbooks on Basavanna and BR Ambedkar after facing severe criticism from a section of academics and writers over ‘distortion’ of history. However, many contentious portions in the textbooks remain, such as showing Goddess Bhuvaneshwari holding a saffron flag instead of the Kannada flag in the Class VI history textbook.