Bengaluru: Karnataka has been courting controversies in quick succession. First, it was the Hijab row, then came Halal meat, followed by seeking a ban on azaan through loudspeakers. Now, the state is in the midst of another controversy related to textbooks. Congress and others were opposing what they called the “Saffronisation” of education. The issue took a new turn when Dalit activist Devanur Mahadeva and thinker Dr. G Ramakrishna asked the state education ministry to drop chapters carrying their works.
The revision committee had submitted its report to the government in March and as per the report, Social Science textbooks of Classes VI to X in all mediums, Classes I to X in Kannada first language (except Class III) textbooks, Kannada second language textbooks of Classes VI, VIII, and IX, and third language textbooks of all mediums of Classes VII, VIII, and IX were revised.
Devanuru Mahadeva, who had actively campaigned for the inclusion of Kannada as the primary language of instruction in schools and colleges, called the entire revision exercise ‘undemocratic’. He has revoked the permission to use his work ‘Yedege Bidda Akshara’ in the textbook. Mahadeva said that those who had taken the decision to drop the chapters from the textbooks did not have any idea of Kannada literature or culture. Dr. Ramakrishna said it was an 'intellectual travesty' that children are being fed poison through textbooks.
Apart from the two authors, the revision exercise of the textbooks has met with staunch opposition from other individuals as well, including the Congress party. Several Congress leaders, including former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and senior member D K Shivakumar, spoke against the revisions. "Let the BJP use Hedgewar, (RSS ideologue), Golwalkar, and (Gandhi’s assassin), Nathuram Godse, in their political rallies and ask for a vote. But politicizing education for selfish reasons will hold no good," Siddaramaiah said in a statement.
Siddaramaiah also slammed the decision of the chairman of the textbook revision committee. He had tweeted, “A person who distorted the state anthem and made fun of the Rashtra Kavi was made the chairperson of the textbook revision committee. If the BJP government has any shame, they should remove him from the post."
Education Minister BC Nagesh, however, dismissed these concerns and said that confusion was being created by so-called self-declared intellectuals and education experts, and Congress leaders. "The Karnataka government was going to teach students the real history," he added.
