Hitting out at the BJP government in Karnataka over the reported removal of a lesson on Bhagat Singh in school textbooks, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday, May 17, called the move an “insult to the sacrifice made by the iconic freedom fighter”, and demanded a roll back of the decision. Taking to Twitter, the AAP national convenor said the country will not tolerate such insults of its martyrs, and asked the BJP why "its people" hate Bhagat Singh so much. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also slammed the BJP over the issue and said the saffron party's “hatred for Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh has come out.”
The reaction of the two Chief Ministers came a day after some organisations, including All-India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) and All-India Save Education Committee (AISEC), raised the issue of the Karnataka government omitting the chapter on Bhagat Singh. They also took exception to the inclusion of a speech by RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in a revised Kannada textbook for students of Class 10.
"Why do BJP people hate Amar Shaheed Sardar Bhagat Singh ji so much? Removal of Sardar Bhagat Singh ji's name from school books is an insult to the sacrifice of the amar shaheed," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi. "The country will not tolerate such humiliation of its martyrs at all. The BJP government will have to take back this decision," he added.
Tweeting in Hindi and Punjabi, Mann said, “BJP's hatred towards Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh ji has come to the fore. Reading Sardar Bhagat Singh, who gave his life for the country at an early age and ignited the flames of revolution, the wave of patriotism runs among the youth even today.”
The Aam Aadmi Party called the removal of the chapter on Bhaghat Singh from the Kannada textbook "shameful" and demanded that the Karnataka government restore the lesson in the school textbook.
"SHAMEFUL. BJP's Karnataka govt REMOVES chapter on Bhagat Singh ji from School Books. Why does BJP hate Shaheed-E-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh ji so much? BJP must take back this decision. India will not tolerate such humiliation of our freedom fighters," the party tweeted from its official Twitter handle.
ਸ਼ਹੀਦ-ਏ-ਆਜ਼ਮ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ ਪ੍ਰਤੀ ਭਾਜਪਾ ਦੀ ਨਫ਼ਰਤ ਸਭ ਦੇ ਸਾਹਮਣੇ ਆ ਗਈ ਹੈ
— Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) May 17, 2022
ਛੋਟੀ ਉਮਰ ਵਿੱਚ ਦੇਸ਼ ਲਈ ਆਪਣੀ ਜਾਨ ਦੇ ਕੇ ਇਨਕਲਾਬ ਦੀ ਲੋਅ ਜਗਾਉਣ ਵਾਲੇ ਸਰਦਾਰ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਨੂੰ ਪੜ੍ਹ ਕੇ ਅੱਜ ਵੀ ਨੌਜਵਾਨਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਦੇਸ਼ ਭਗਤੀ ਦੀ ਲਹਿਰ ਦੌੜ ਜਾਂਦੀ ਹੈ
ਦੇਸ਼ ਭਗਤੀ ਦੇ ਇਸੇ ਜਜ਼ਬੇ ਦੇ ਡਰ ਤੋਂ ਭਾਜਪਾ ਦੀ ਰੂਹ ਕੰਬਦੀ ਹੈ https://t.co/QH4w764rcM
Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh has defended the inclusion of the speech. He said that the textbook does not contain anything about Hedgewar or RSS, but only his speech on what should be an inspiration to people, especially the youth, and that those who have raised objections have not gone through the textbook.
"Some people want to object to everything and they feel what they have said is only the truth and only their thinking has to be told to society...In that speech, Hedgewar had said that one has to take ideology, values and principles as his or her inspiration. He has spoken about the importance of society and the nation. What's wrong with that?" the minister said.