BJP issues circular to rectify ‘errors’ in revised textbooks

The government added that it will reintroduce pictures of poet Kuvempu and that of Huilgol Narayanrao in the unification of the state chapter.

The Karnataka government on Monday issued a circular to rectify the ‘errors’ in the school textbooks through a corrigendum. The development comes after several writers, activists, heads of communities and opposition leaders had expressed discontentment over the revisions.

The seers representing Dalit and other backward communities met Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday to demand the withdrawal of the new textbooks. (HT Photo)

The government listed out eight errors which will be rectified.

“Our senior education department officials have said that they will make the changes in a chapter on Basavanna after taking the advice of experts,” Karnataka’s minister for primary and secondary education BC Nagesh said on Monday. He ruled out the possibility of another revision committee to look at the “errors” and said that most of the changes will be done by education department officials.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government which had previously pointed out the ‘mistakes’ done by the Professor Baraguru Ramachandrappa-led committee during the Siddaramaiah-led Congress regime in 2016, caved into the growing public outrage over the changes.

Though the government said that there were around 11-15 changes, it has listed out only eight in its latest circular and added a clause that allows for more changes if it gets more feedback, opinions and objections in the future.

The Lingayats and Vokkaliga community, believed to be the largest caste groups in Karnataka, had threatened to agitate the trimming of the contributions by Sri Siddaganga Matha and the Adi Chunchungiri Matha, which prompted former prime minister HD Deve Gowda to raise objections over the revisions.

“We have made several changes in connection with many issues. On some topics, we have decided to continue with the old textbook,” chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Monday. Talking about Deve Gowda’s letter, Bommai said, “We have given him all the details along with the order copy (for changes) and the actions taken.”

Bommai had earlier said that he would give a detailed response to the objections raised by Gowda. Karnataka revenue minister R Ashok had also held a press conference onJune 23 to clarify the stand of the government on the issue as a blowback by both communities would dent the BJP’s chances in the 2023 assembly elections.

Previously, senior BJP leaders had said that it will now go on the “offensive” in the textbook controversy against the Congress but the decision on Monday is being viewed as a defensive stand.

“They are finally admitting that mistakes were made by the Rohit Chakrathirtha-led revision committee. Though they are claiming that they are on the offensive, the admission of these mistakes puts them on the defensive,” Harshakumar Kugwe, an educationist and activist said.

The now disbanded Rohit Chakrathirtha-led revision committee had come under sharp criticism from pro-Kannada groups among other sections after the revisions to the textbooks were made public.

As per a few activists and academics there is an attempt not just to remove factual references to historical personalities but also to change the meaning of these references, HT reported on June 23.

The government added that it will reintroduce pictures of poet Kuvempu and that of Huilgol Narayanrao in the unification of the state chapter.

The government has added that it will remove the sentence; ‘Kuvempu became a famous poet with the support from various people’ and rectify it after pro-Kannada organisations, academics and the political opposition accused the BJP of not acknowledging the role of these writers.

“The BJP government has made a vain attempt in stating that it will rectify some of the mistakes in the school textbooks. There are more lapses than they can fix. The only solution for now is that the new textbooks should be scrapped and the old ones should be continued,” the Congress’ leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah said on Monday in a post on Twitter.