BJP MLA slams Karnataka Congress govt's "hasty decision" to drop RSS' Hedgewar from school textbooks

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], June 10 (ANI): BJP MLA and former state minister CN Ashwath Narayan have criticised the Karnataka government’s proposal to revise school textbooks in the State, including the alleged removal of lessons on RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, stating that such hasty decisions will not be appreciated.

"These kinds of hasty decisions are not appreciated. Dr Hedgewar is a founder of national cultural building, nationalism...He was a medical practitioner with a good background," the former state minister told ANI.

Narayan further advised the State Government to “not ignore and disrespect such a towering personality” and “should have the courtesy to respect him.”

Speaking on the State government's proposal to revise school textbooks this year and said they should not hurry and should constitute a committee for such revisions.

"They (government">Karnataka Government) should not be in a hurry, they should take their time. They should constitute a committee and look into it," a former state minister told ANI.

Narayan said such changes are politically motivated. “As a popular government, they should address the concerns of all sections of society. Government has to be inclusive and respect the sentiments of all communities and all people...I humbly call upon them, don't be in a hurry to do things," the BJP MLA said.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar also slammed the move by the Congress-led government in the southern state and said that party's views on history are limited to the Nehru-Gandhi family.

"I don't have control over them what they do or say … It's (move to remove a lesson) absolutely wrong. It is in their DNA and intent to take out from history whosoever is not part of dynasty. Their 'prism' of looking at history is limited to the Nehru-Gandhi family," he said.

On Thursday, Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa said that school textbooks in the State will be revised this year.

He said experts would revise textbooks this year to keep in check what should be there in the books and what not. A similar decision will be made in the cabinet.

Initially, the minister said there will be a ‘Setu Bandha’ project which will help in teaching lessons that the students have missed due to no-attending of physical classes.

"The experts will also decide what should be there in a textbook and what should be removed. Moreover. there has been an additional revision in the past as well," Bangarappa said.

"We had said in the manifesto that we will revise the textbook and we will do it", he added. The minister further said that the actions will be taken in the interest of the children.

He said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah himself has taken special care in this matter and said that it is a matter of happiness.

A series of decisions taken by different states has put the spotlight back on the debate around the establishment tailoring school texts to suit its political bent.

Both Congress and BJP allege each other of changing the textbooks as per their preferences when they are in power in a particular state.

While BJP alleges Congress for focusing too much on Mughal history in textbooks, Congress alleges the BJP of "whitewashing" and "distorting" history.

In Rajasthan, textbooks are said to change every five years as the two parties alternate in power, while the Gujarat government incorporated parts of the ‘Bhagavad Gita’ in the Class 6-10 syllabi.

Political players defend their decisions to tweak textbooks as a response to rivals’ attempts to manipulate the narrative.

But historians and academic experts urge caution. It is important to update texts as more information comes to light, they say, but add that no winners can come off turning textbooks into ideological battlegrounds. (ANI)