Bunts, Billava communities unhappy over exclusion of lessons on Kayyar Kinhanna Rai, Narayana Guru

The two communities alleged that Kayyar was instrumental in integrating Kasargod in Karnataka and his contributions towards the unification of Karnataka has largely been ignored in the Class VII social science textbook. The communities are also protesting because the lesson on Narayana Guru (which has been transferred from social science to Kannada language textbook) is not highlighting the important religious reforms he introduced in the society.

However, the government on June 27, clarified that eight corrections have been ordered to certain “controversial” content and that more corrections are welcome in the coming days. But there is no clarity from the government if the changes related to Narayana Guru and inclusion of the lesson on Kayyar (which were replaced with the works of M Govinda Pai) will be taken into consideration.

Speaking to indianexpress.com, Mithun said that the state government is “destroying” the history of Tulunadu. “We are not just protesting against dropping of lessons on religious and social reformers of Dakshina Kannada, but are also angry about the misleading and incorrect information disseminated about them through the textbooks to the younger generations. In fact, Kayyar has always been at the forefront of Karnataka’s unification since 1956 and was instrumental in getting Kasargod back to Karnataka from Kerala. Whereas, there is no account of Govinda Pai fighting for the unification of Karnataka because of his critical health in the late ’50s,” Mithun said.

He added, “Moreover, Kayyar was not affiliated to any political party. It is important that students learn these historical and social movements correctly. Instead, the government is erasing Kayyar’s important contributions to the state of Karnataka. We welcome the eight changes ordered by the government with respect to the revised content. But they should also consider the request of the Bunt community and restore Kayyar’s work in the textbook.”

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Meanwhile, BJP leader from Dakshina Kannada and chairman of Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Harikrishna Bantwal said, “It is important for the state government to consider the sentiments of the Bunt and Billava communities and make appropriate changes to the revised textbook. I am sure in the coming days the education department will consider this. At the same time, I feel it’s high time textbooks now include lessons that are related to daily activities like banking, consumerism, finance which ensure students become self-reliant by the time they graduate. The schools can conduct separate moral lessons regarding revolutionaries and reformers. But it is vital that there is a reform in textbooks that start including lessons on how a student should become economically self-reliant.”

Ajith Rai, president of the Bunts Sangha said, “The Bunts community has been time and again neglected and the textbook row is just adding fuel to fire. The revised textbooks have hurt the sentiments of all communities, including Vokkaligas, Lingayats, Billava and the Bunts. If the chapter on Kayyar is not included, we will start protesting from the ward level and will escalate it to a statewide protest in the coming days.”