New Delhi: A day after Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed concern over the ‘saffronisation’ of textbooks, as being said after a few chapters were included by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime, state minister Dinesh Gundu Rao stressed that history needs to be represented with facts and not fiction.
Talking to press, Dinesh Gundu Rao said, “We will have to do that because it is a distortion of history. The way textbooks were written, was definitely with an ideology in mind. So, we need to remove that. We need to see that history is represented with facts, not fiction…”
On Monday, the Chief Minister stated that, “Act of polluting children’s minds through texts and lessons cannot be condoned. As the academic year has started, we will discuss and take action so that the education of the children is not disturbed.”
#WATCH | Karnataka Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao says, "We will have to do that because it is a distortion of history. The way textbooks were written, was definitely with an ideology in mind. So, we need to remove that. We need to see that history is represented with facts, not… https://t.co/rxy73GF9Uo pic.twitter.com/yOZoWsuYVz
— ANI (@ANI) May 30, 2023
This comes after a number of letters and recommedations were poured in by the academicians and activists to eliminate chapters that were added by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime.
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‘Textbooks went under for political reasons’
The Basavraj Bommai-led government in 2021 formed a committee to review revision of textbooks made in 2017-2018 as ordered by then previous government of Congress headed by Siddaramaiah.
The forward of the new textbook read, “The textbooks published in 2014 went under revision the same year for political reasons.”
The move followed a severe criticism from writers and academicians to the then CM Bommai and head of the committee to review books, Rohith Chakrathirtha – a writer with strong right-wing beliefs, stated Deccan Herald.
Saffronisation of Textbooks
Both of them were condemned for attempting to ‘saffronise’ textbooks by dropping some writers and adding new ones.
Earlier last week, academician Niranjan Aradhya met CM Siddaramaiah urging him to take out the chapters that ” tried to create hatred in the minds of children.” He demanded to restore previous sylabus, echoed with several other writers in the state.
