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This is an archive article published on May 13, 2018

Outraged, Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s family tells Rajasthan to ban book, referring him ‘Father of Terrorism’

Board of Secondary Education, reads: “Bal Gangadhar Tilak demonstrated a path towards national movement, therefore, he is called as the father of terrorism.”

Social Reformer Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Express archive photo

STUNNED by the description of Bal Gangadhar Tilak in a Class VIII reference book in Rajasthan — which said the social reformer and freedom fighter was called the “Father of Terrorism” — the Tilak family in Pune has taken up the matter with the Rajasthan government.

They have urged the Rajasthan government to ensure that the derogatory remark is removed and sought a ban on the book. The family of Lokmanya Tilak has also demanded action against those who published the book and approved its content.

“We are shocked and angry that anybody could make such a derogatory remark about the man who gave 50 years of his 64-year-long life to the nation…this is how they treat him… calling him names, like they have done in the book meant for schoolchildren in Rajasthan… this is beyond comprehension,” said Mukta Tilak, the Mayor of Pune and great-granddaughter-in-law of Tilak.

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Read | Rajasthan minister on ‘father of terrorism’ Bal Gangadhar Tilak: Read it in correct context

Tilak, a BJP leader, said not only has the freedom fighter been shown in poor light, but the “nation has been insulted”.  “I have written a letter to the Rajasthan government and requested it to not only get the derogatory reference removed… but to ban the book itself. The government should ensure that the book does not remain in circulation anymore. It has insulted not just the memory of Tilak, but the entire nation,” she said.
The controversial part of the reference book, used by private English-medium schools affiliated to the Rajasthan

Board of Secondary Education, reads: “Bal Gangadhar Tilak demonstrated a path towards national movement, therefore, he is called as the father of terrorism.” While the mistake has been attributed to erroneous translation and was reportedly rectified in the revised edition of the book, the Tilak family said “colossal damage” has been done to the image and dignity of the freedom fighter.

“This seems to be part of the BJP regime’s agenda to change history at the state and national level… There can’t be anything more insulting than calling Tilak the father of terrorism,” said Ramesh Iyer, general secretary of Pune city Congress. The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti has complained to Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje over the issue.

Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.   Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives. Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees. During Covid, over 50 doctors were  asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa. Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.     Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More

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