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CM disbands textbook review panel, to revise chapter on seer
The committee headed by Rohit Chakrathirtha had come under sharp criticism from various quarters of the country, including academicians, writers, religious seers and the political leaders.
Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday disbanded the school textbook revision committee amid growing allegations that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is trying to saffronise education in the state.
“The current textbook revision committee has been dissolved as the current textbook revision has been completed,” Bommai said in an order that came in late on Friday night.
The government order said in the current textbooks, the government has an open mind to revise any objectionable issues and that a decision has been made to appropriately revise the issues pertaining to Basvaranna.
The committee headed by Rohit Chakrathirtha had come under sharp criticism from various quarters of the country, including academicians, writers, religious seers and the political leaders.
The government and the textbook review committee chairperson, Chakrathirta, had been accused of excluding historical personalities like Bhagat Singh, Narayan Guru, Periyar and several others and include chapters on the likes of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founder KB Hedgewar which was seen as an attempt to distort history and saffronise school education.
“I have said for the last 2-3 weeks that I am ready for anything,” Chakrathirta told HT. He said he had not received any orders or intimation from the government about the dissolution of the committee and refused to comment on the same.
Several prominent seers such as Sri Panditaradhya Shivacharya Swami of Sanehalli had written to the chief minister on May 31 to withdraw the textbooks or face protests from the entire Lingayat community, believed to be the biggest caste group in the state as well as backers of the BJP.
The seers had objected to the twisted and wrong information on 12th century reformer, Basavanna. in the class 9 social science textbook.
Sri Basava Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swami of Lingayat Panchamasali Peetha, Kudalasangama had also objected to the presentation of ‘facts’ in the textbooks which would be misleading children and their impressionable minds.
Bommai has also assured legal action against persons who distorted the state anthem or ‘Nada Geethe’ by Rashtrakavi Kuvempu, shared by Chakrathirta in 2017, stating that though these parts are not in the textbooks, it would be investigated.
The order stated that in the earlier textbooks, there was an introduction only about Islam and Christianity and this time around even Hinduism has been added.
