Billavas to fight against removal of chapter on Sri Narayana Guru

MANGALURU: The Billava community and other sections of society in the coastal districts are all set to launch a united front, to demand inclusion of a chapter on social reformer Sri Narayana Guru in the class X social science textbook in Karnataka.
Billava leader and treasurer of Kudroli Sri Gokarnanatha Temple management committee, R Padmaraj, said that the state government has ignored 26 communities, that follow the ideals of Sri Narayana Guru, including Billava, Ediga, Namadhari and others, by removing a chapter of the social reformer from the class X social science textbook.
“Sri Narayana Guru was a visionary, who started a revolution in education, and was instrumental in uplifting the backward classes. The Karnataka Textbook Review Committee has removed a chapter on Sri Narayana Guru from the social science textbook part 1, for class X, during the revision. The revised social science textbook part 1 of class X, printed by the government in 2022, has no chapter on Sri Narayana Guru in it. Instead, the committee has added a chapter on the social reformer in the Kannada optional textbook. As a result, only those who study Kannada as an optional language, will be able to study the chapter,” Padmaraj said.
Narayana Guru Vichara Vedike state president Sathyajith Surathkal, said 26 communities, and organisations of various backward classes, will launch mass protests in the state soon.
“During Republic Day celebrations, the central government insulted Sri Narayana Guru, by rejecting a tableau on the social reformer. Though there is a demand for a separate development corporation or board for Billavas, the government has not responded. People demanded that the Mangaluru International Airport should be named after Koti-Chennaya, but it went in vain. Meanwhile, the government in Karnataka has ignored Sri Narayana Guru again, by removing a chapter on him from a class X textbook. Removal of the chapter from the textbook, is an insult to backward classes and Dalits. The government should ensure that the chapter on the social reformer is included in the Class X social science textbook,” he said.