Karnataka: Writers, academics want new textbooks scrapped

BENGALURU: Several notable academics and writers under the aegis of the All-India Save Education Committee (AISEC) came together here on Wednesday to raise objections to the revisions made by the textbook revision committee headed by Rohit Chakrathirtha. The speakers included former Advocate General and petitioner in the hijab case Ravivarma Kumar, poets Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy and SG Siddaramaiah, and activist Du Saraswati.

Ravivarma Kumar questioned the inclusion of RSS founder KC Hedgewar’s speech in the revised textbook. He said Hedgewar was not a freedom fighter and RSS had never fought for the country’s freedom. The participants demanded scrapping of the revised textbooks.

“Socialism, democracy and secularism are the pillars of the preamble and must be the guiding light for any changes in the education system. Education is a device to fulfil the Constitutional aspirations and the recent changes are a clear violation of these principles. The changes made in textbooks in Karnataka are unconstitutional, opaque, and smack of an autocratic attitude,” said educationalist Dr Niranjanaradhya VP.

The speakers criticised the government’s choice for the head of the revision committee with Kannada writer and AISEC state president Allamaprabhu Bettaduru saying that Rohith is virtually unknown in the field of education. 

“The present textbook revision is part of an RSS agenda to saffronise education,” said Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy.