Rajasthan education minister calls Mughal emperor Akbar ‘a rapist’, triggers row

Rajasthan education minister Madan Dilawar said references calling Akbar a “great personality” should be removed from school textbooks.

Rajasthan education minister Madan Dilawar on Sunday called Mughal emperor Akbar “a rapist” and said that references calling him a “great personality” should be removed from school textbooks.

Rajasthan education minister Madan Dilawar. (Photo from X)

“Akbar was never a great personality. He was an aggressor and a rapist. He used to run ‘meena bazaar’ to bring beautiful women with him and later raped them. Calling such a man a great personality is stupidity,” Dilawar told reporters during a visit to a temple in Balotra.

He made the comments while responding to the debate over school textbooks being subjected to major changes with a change in government. Theminister had earlier stated that he “does not want any change, but only fix unethical statements”.

“We don’t need to make any changes in the curriculum, but the contents that make any unethical statements or disrespect great men will be removed. There is a lot of misleading information included about our ancestors such as Veer Savarkar and Shivaji. Those statements will be fixed,” he said during a press conference on January 30.

Dilawar further said, “In many textbooks, it was stated that Savarkar was not a patriot. While Akbar is considered a great man, Shivaji is referred to as ‘Pahadi Chuha’, and Maharana Pratap’s role is overshadowed by the role of Akbar. Such statements are not acceptable and will be reviewed.”

Dilawar is a diploma holder in mechanical engineering.

“Akbar was a successful ruler not just in the country’s history, but in world history,” Retired history professor Brij Kishore Sharma said.