A political row erupted in Kerala over a question on Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, asked in a school quiz that supposedly praised him, with the Left student organisations and leaders saying that the state government was promoting "sangh parivar agenda".
On August 6, a "Freedom Quiz" was organised for lower primary students in Kasaragod, Kumbla and Manjeshwar schools.
In the quiz, a question was asked — "Who is the freedom fighter that received the most severe punishment from the British?"
The expected answer? VD Savarkar.
This led to a controversy in the state, following which, Kerala's education minister N Samsudheen ordered a probe and directed the Director of General Education to investigate the matter and present a report, news agency PTI reported.
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He also directed the education department to take strict actions against those found responsible.
‘Historically inaccurate’
{{/usCountry}}He also directed the education department to take strict actions against those found responsible.
‘Historically inaccurate’
{{/usCountry}}The statement released by the education minister's office called the question “historically inaccurate” and said that the quiz was not authorised to be conducted independently.
The minister's office said that the ‘freedom quiz’ was not part of the activity calendar of either the Social Science Club or the General Education Department. It added that no one was authorised to prepare the questions or conduct the competition independently by either of the departments.
"The person who included the historically incorrect question holds a prejudiced view," the statement read.
CPI(M), left student organisations attack govt
The question and its alleged implication triggered criticism from the left student organisations such as the Students' Federation of India and leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan accused the Congress-led UDF government in the state of “colluding” with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and “glorifying” Savarkar.
He alleged that the Centre and the RSS were attempting to “rewrite history”.
V Sivankutty, former education minister of the state said that this was an attempt to "saffronise" Kerala's education and distort the history of India's freedom struggle.
He also demanded an apology from the general education department of the state to the students and public.
CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam said that “to smuggle in people like Savarkar as the heroes of freedom movements, it is not accidental, it's a conscious attempt by the BJP-RSS forces to impress the young generation that India's freedom movement is a movement led by such kind of people, which is contrary to the fact.”
“What's the fact? The fact is that they had no role at all the freedom movement. They were not even spectators. But they want to tell the young generation that Savarkar is the hero of the freedom movement. Not Mahatma Gandhi, not Jawaharlal Nehru... They want to tell that Savarkar is the hero. Savarkar is the person who wrote letters after letters to the British authorities. They were all letters for apology. He wrote 4-5 letters to the British tendering apology for whatever he did. BJP-RSS was always keen to depict him as a national hero,” he told news agency ANI.
SFI state secretary PS Sanjeev alleged that the quiz sought to portray Savarkar as a freedom fighter. "Under the UDF government in Kerala, with the IUML handling the general education portfolio, an attempt is being made to create a role for the Sangh Parivar, which betrayed the freedom struggle," Sanjeev said in a social media post, reported PTI.
MK Muneer, a leader of IUML which is part of the current UDF government in the state, also said that portraying Savarkar as a patriot was part of the agenda of RSS and BJP.
BJP State President and MLA Rajeev Chandrasekhar warned the Congress and IUML, which holds the education portfolio in Kerala, to not make the issue political.
“This is India. This is Keralam. The history of India and the history of Kerala is well understood by every Indian, every Malayali… Veer Savarkar was an important and significant figure in India's independence movement, and the Muslim League and Rahul Gandhi cannot change that. I would caution them not to make this a political issue because otherwise the BJP will have to come out and expose the Muslim League and their politics. In the name of secularism, you should not try and defame important leaders of the Indian freedom movement,” he said.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI)