Even as media reports have countered allegations made by Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani on Rohith Vemula's death in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, another one of her claims has been refuted by the Don Bosco School in Mumbai's Matunga area.
In her statement, Irani had criticised the school for using a handbook for Class IV history teachers, which was authored by activist Teesta Setalvad:
"I wondered, where do our kids learn from? I am presenting an example in this House today, which just came to my desk. This is a history book for students of class 4. What are our teachers taught? The author of this book is Teesta Setalvad. This book has been commissioned by UPA's Kapil Sibal. The same UPA whose chairperson is Soniaji. Let's see what is to be taught to student of class 4. (sic)
However, the school has since claimed that the book was discontinued way back in 2001.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Father Bernard Fernandes, principal of the school, said:
These were no textbooks but handbooks. These books were used by some of our schools on an experimental basis for a year and were meant for teachers...But they were discontinued immediately after a year they were introduced. Today, none of our teachers use these handbooks.