NSUI said a photograph of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was dropped and replaced by RSS co-founder and freedom fighter Vinayak Savarkar. (Representational)
A controversy erupted in Goa after the National Student’s Union of India (NSUI), the Congress’ student wing, pointed out on Wednesday that a photograph of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was dropped and replaced by RSS co-founder and freedom fighter Vinayak Savarkar in Class 10 social science books.
“It is very sad that the BJP has removed the photo of Pandit Nehru from the textbook and Savarkar’s photo has been included in the books of the Goa Education Authority,” IANS quoted NSUI Goa chief Ahraz Mulla as saying.
Alleging that it was the BJP’s ploy to “change history” and erase Congress’ contribution to the freedom struggle, Mulla said, “Tomorrow, they will remove the photo of Mahatma Gandhi and question what Congress has done in 60 years. They have to ensure they do not change history, which our ancestors have given us and the fight which the Congress has carried out for Independence.”
The book titled “India and the Contemporary World II – Democratic Politics” is a history and political science textbook. In the last edition of the book, which was a part of the previous curriculum, page 68 contained a photograph of Nehru along with Mahatma Gandhi and Maulana Azad at Sevagram ashram in Maharashtra in 1935.
The NSUI chief claimed that the photo had been removed in the new edition of the book and it included a photo of Savarkar instead of Nehru on the same page.