Final Karnataka textbooks for 10th standard out; Bhagat Singh, Periyar, and Narayan Guru lessons included

Responding to the criticism wherein the government reintroduced Bhagat Singh lessons after facing severe backlash, minister BC Nagesh said, “The pdfs of the textbooks that went viral are unverified and the hard copy is the final one. Congress and other opposition parties jumped the gun without reading the reviewed content properly. The changes were made to only certain portions of Kannada and History textbooks where the previous committee headed by Barguru Ramchandrappa had got certain facts wrong. Moreover, the lesson on Narayan Guru is now transferred from history to Kannada textbook because students were overburdened with a lot of history lessons.” According to the Karnataka Textbook Society, about 78% of the textbooks have been printed and will complete printing in 15 days.

Highlighting the omissions and the additions made by the previous textbook committee Nagesh slammed the Congress for vote bank politics. “Lessons on Mysore Maharajas and their contributions towards social reforms were reduced to few lines from five pages. However, lessons on Tipu Sulthan were increased from one page to six pages. It is clear that Tipu Sulthan’s lessons were a vote bank for Congress. However, the new committee has introduced the contribution of Mysore maharajas (Wadiyar dynasty) in their fight against the British.”

Clarifying the changes made to Preiyar’s lessons, Nagesh said, “Periyar believed that Rama represents vedic culture and Ravana represents Dravidian culture. Moreover, he was a staunch critic of Rama who even garlanded the photo of Lor Rama with slippers. This is not what we intend to teach our children and these have been removed. Besides, we have also reintroduced Kuvempu’s Ramayana Darshanam that was removed by the previous committee.”

Talking about the accusation of ‘brahminising’ the textbooks, Nagesh said, “The critics have stooped low by identifying literature works with their caste. In fact, the previous committee headed by Barguru Ramchandrappa included the works of 19 brahmins. Nobody questioned that. We are working to provide knowledge, based on content and not caste.”

However, the Campus Front of India, the student wing of the Popular Front of India, is opposing the inclusion of KH Hedgewar and RSS activist Chakravarthy Sulibele’s lesson in the textbook. In fact, they are also mobilizing support to protest against the state government from tomorrow. The All India Democratic Students Organisation, Karnataka said, “ As a result of widespread protests the lesson on Bhagath Singh has been reintroduced in the class 10 textbook. The government has bowed to pressure and this is a victory for people’s movement.”