TOI Impact: Karnataka education minister calls on Jain Seer, assures to reprint textbook after corrections

MANGALURU: Karnataka education minister Suresh Kumar has responded positively to Moodabidri Seer’s request to rectify the inconsistencies and discrepancies regarding Bhagwan Mahaveer and the Jain religion in the PU II history textbook in Kannada.
Swasti Sri Charukeerthi Panditachayavarya Maha Swamiji of Jain Kashi Mutt, Moodabidri, told TOI the minister called him over the phone on Tuesday and assured the textbook would be reprinted after necessary corrections are made to the paragraphs that had inaccuracies concerning Bhagwan Mahaveer.
The Seer had written a letter to the Minister on September 3 expressing his anguish over discrepancies regarding Bhagwan Mahaveer and the Jain religion, requesting him for necessary action. The letter and its contents were highlighted in a report by TOI.
Though the textbook has been prescribed for PU since the year 2015-16, the Seer said the discrepancies were noticed recently and were brought to his notice by prominent people in the community. ``Certain paragraphs that appeared in the textbook pertaining to Bhagwan Mahaveer’s history and message were not only inaccurate, they were also not in accordance with the beliefs held by the community,’’ the Seer had told TOI.
The Seer said the minister had contacted him through former Moodabidri MLA Abhayachandra Jain, who is also a prominent member of the Jain Community.