Rajasthan school education minister Madan Dilawar on Thursday announced the withdrawal of two class 12 books citing ‘Gandhi family bias’, stoking a controversy and prompting a rebuttal from the opposition Congress.
Dilawar alleged that the two-part book 'Azadi Ke Baad Swarnim Bharat’, which has been in circulation for over two decades, glorifies some leaders of the Congress, who imposed the Emergency in the country, suspended the Constitution and killed democracy.
"It does not talk about the role of great leaders like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Dr BR Ambedkar and Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who later founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. These books only glorify the Gandhi family who imposed the Emergency in the country for their greed and for office," PTI quoted Dilawar as saying.
The book has two parts and is part of the non-evaluative reading list for Class 12 students. Dilawar said he wouldn't allow such books to be taught to the kids.
"We will not let such books be taught to our students. Also, these books were an addition to the syllabus and do not have weightage for marks in exams. Then why burden students?" Dilawar said, while also adding that people like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje Scindia were more deserving of a mention in the book.
Congress reacts to Rajasthan dropping book citing Gandhi family bias
{{/usCountry}}"We will not let such books be taught to our students. Also, these books were an addition to the syllabus and do not have weightage for marks in exams. Then why burden students?" Dilawar said, while also adding that people like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje Scindia were more deserving of a mention in the book.
Congress reacts to Rajasthan dropping book citing Gandhi family bias
{{/usCountry}}Congress leader Govind Singh Dotasra issued a strong rebuttal to the Rajasthan education minister saying the book in question promotes the Gandhi family, alleged that Madan Dilawar was whipping up an unnecessary controversy over something which depicts the contribution of "great" Indian heroes.
"This is an ideological attack, the narrow thinking of the RSS on the education system," he said.
Dotasra claimed that the books in contention were printed with the permission of the BJP government, the education minister, and other government officials. He asked if the minister approved it without understanding, in which case, what kind of minister was he?
"The question is, what is the justification for removing these books from the syllabus? “What flaw is the minister seeing in these books now that he did not see earlier?" Dotasra asked, adding that 80 percent of the books have already been distributed to students.
Dotasra said that erasing the contributions of former prime ministers from school books is not just a change in the curriculum but an attempt to change the direction of thought formation in the education system.
He accused the state BJP government of conspiring to distort history and make the "hateful thinking" of the RSS a part of the curriculum.
He went on to list the contributions of Prime Ministers from Jawaharlal Nehru to Manmohan Singh, accusing the BJP government of trying to erase them.
"Does the BJP government want to hide history and truth from students by removing this indelible contribution of the great heroes of the country from the syllabus?" he asked.