Congress Karnataka unit president DK Shivkumar: Textbooks deny Ambedkar statute credit

BENGALURU : Congress Karnataka unit president DK Shivakumar on Sunday alleged affront to Dr BR Ambedkar, saying a revised textbook has omitted the ‘architect of the Constitution of India’ reference in a chapter on social reformers.
Shivakumar said the Class 9 textbook of the state syllabus has dropped the oft-quoted reference. “The Karnataka government has dissolved the textbook committee headed by Rohith Chakratirtha, but the damage has been done as new books have misrepresented the life and achievements of Dr Ambedkar,” he said.
While education minister BC Nagesh was not available for comments, officials from the department of primary and secondary education denied the allegation.
Listing “more misrepresentations” about Dr Ambedkar, Shivakumar said a Kannada poem (‘Nee Hoda Marudina’ or ‘a day after you departed’, penned by Chennanna Walikar) that celebrates the reformer has been removed from Class 6 textbook. He said details about his parents, date and place of his birth have been removed from Class 7 social-science textbook that has a chapter on social reformers.
Many incidents, including the 1927 Mahad Satyagraha (where he fought for access to public drinking water) and 1930 Kalaram temple satyagraha (seeking entry of Dalits into temples), have been removed, alleged Shivakumar.