Panel removes ‘Sati’ picture from Class 8 textbook

JAIPUR: Picture of a woman on pyre, signifying ‘Sati’, on a Class VIII English textbook added by the former BJP government has been removed by the textbook revision committee formed by the present Congress government. The textbook cover now has picture of a hill fort.
State education minister Govind Singh Dotasra called the featuring of ‘Sati’ on the school book’s cover page as illegal and unlawful. The minister said that the new image of hill fort depicted on the book symbolizes Rajasthan’s culture across the globe.
“It is atrocious that previous BJP government featured ‘Sati’, a practice which is banned in the country. I don’t understand the intention of the then Raje-government behind this deliberate attempt (to glorify Sati). It is best known to them if they attempted to promote the banned practice or tried to provoke the sentiments of students? However, we have made the issue irrelevant now,” said Dotasra.
Former BJP MLA and member of Jaipur’s ex-royal family, Diya Kumari slammed the minister in her tweet, accusing him of disrespecting Maharana Pratap, Veer Savarkar and omitting ‘Rani Sati’ from the cover page in the revised textbooks.
Minister Dotasra reacted by saying, “We have done a better job by rewriting a life sketch of Maharana Pratap. The changes in the Savarkar chapter have been made in the light of established facts by the committee.”
On removing ‘Sati’ picture from the book’s cover page, the minister said, “We cannot teach our girls the practice of self-immolation which happened centuries ago. Our aim with the revised textbooks is to see our girls heading to the US for studies in renowned universities.”
Countering BJP claims that revised textbooks have projected Maharana Pratap as defeated king in the 1576 battle of Haldighati, the minister said, “The text of Pratap has been reviewed and we have highlighted his valour, courage and sacrifice in a manner that would inspire students. Our text simply states that the battle was fought between Akbar and Maharana Pratap.”
He told the rewriting was made to remove the communal impression that battle was between a Muslims and a Hindu. “The BJP had conveniently ignored in the text that the battle was led by a Muslim, Hakim Khan Suri from Maharana Pratap’s side and Raja Man Singh from Akbar’s side,” said Dotasra.