Defending the move to revise school textbooks in the state, Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh on Monday, May 23, alleged that confusion is “unnecessarily being created” among the people and students, along with attempts to create communal hatred by spreading falsehood. Alleging that facts were earlier distorted or hidden from the textbooks, especially from the history books, to suit certain motives, he said that "so-called self-declared intellectuals and education experts and Congress leaders are unable to digest it”, and hence are spreading lies.
"Those unable to digest the smooth functioning of the education department are spreading lies. It started with rumours that a lesson on Tipu Sultan was being omitted from the textbook, even before the textbook revision committee report came. Then, when the book went for printing, it was alleged that a lesson on Bhagat Singh had been dropped, despite my immediate clarification that no such omission had been made," Nagesh said.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said that there were also allegations regarding the omission of chapters on Basavanna, Narayana Guru and Kuvempu. "Unnecessarily confusion is being created among the people and students, along with attempts to create communal hatred," he alleged, as he asked as to why no one questioned when certain chapters were omitted by the previous textbook revision committee headed by Prof Baraguru Ramachandrappa, constituted by the previous Congress regime.
The controversy had erupted recently following objections raised by some organisations against inclusion of a speech by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in the Class 10 Kannada revised textbook, allegedly by omitting a chapter on Bhagat Singh. Clarifying on the omission of a chapter on Narayana Guru, the minister said there have been complaints from teachers regarding Class 10 history textbooks over burdening the students, since the Congress government's tenure under Siddaramaiah, as the syllabus cannot be completed in a year.
"So, we removed the chapter on Narayana Guru from history textbook and included it in the Kannada book as it is, while the chapter on Narayana Guru has remained as it is in Class 6 textbook," he said, noting that even senior politicians started spreading these lies on social media without even having gone through the textbook or knowing the facts.
Further stating that a chapter on Bhagat Singh has not been removed, Nagesh said information regarding other revolutionary freedom fighters like Chandra Shekhar Azad, Sukhdev, and Rajguru, have been added in the revised textbook.
He also claimed that the previous textbook committee had reduced content regarding chapters on Mysuru Maharajahs, while adding more information on Tipu Sultan. "Why Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar were silent then?" the minister asked.
Admitting that the present committee has removed certain lines from a chapter on Periyar as it said Rama represents Vedic culture and Ravana represented Dravidian movement, he asked, "Should we teach our students such things?"
The minister said misinformation is being spread that Kuvempu has been disrespected in the textbook, while in reality, nothing in the said chapter was revised from what it was earlier. "We have in fact added a couple of chapters on Kuvempu and his writings like Ramayana Darshanam, while the previous committee had removed some chapters," he said, as he hit out at "so-called self-declared intellectuals and education experts."
Nagesh said the previous committee constituted by the Congress regime had removed chapters on BR Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi and distorted facts on Swami Vivekananda, while a chapter on Jawaharlal Nehru's letter to his daughter was added by removing lessons on "Sindhu Culture".
As much as 78% of the textbooks had already reached students and the remaining will also reach soon, Nagesh further said, as he defended inclusion of Hedgewar's speech.
The minister also strongly defended Rohith Chakrathirtha, the head of the current textbook committee, and hit back at his detractors pointing out that he was a professor teaching CET and IIT students.
The committee headed by Chakrathirtha, which was constituted to examine social science and language textbooks, has revised social science textbooks from Classes 6 to 10 and Kannada language textbooks from Classes 1 to 10.
Earlier in May, a controversy had erupted after Organisations like All-India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) and All-India Save Education Committee (AISEC) had alleged that a speech by RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar was included in the textbook, while omitting a lesson on Bhagat Singh. Nagesh had defended the addition of Hegdewar’s speech, claiming that it is “an inspiration to people, especially the youth”. Opposition leaders had hit out at the BJP-led government, with AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal calling the move an “insult to the sacrifice made by the iconic freedom fighter”.