Hyderabad: With three weeks to go for polling in Telangana, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has come below fireplace from the Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP) and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) over a passage in a Telugu workbook for college kids of Class 5, which they allege was included within the course materials to harm ‘Hindu sentiments’.
The quick passage, a part of the workbook compiled by the State Council of Instructional Analysis and Coaching (SCERT) and printed this educational yr, says inhabitants of a spot known as ‘Cheyrala’ suffered many difficulties since they ‘worshipped an idol of Lord Krishna given to them by the Pandavas at the end of their exile’.
“On the advice of a Swami ji, locals discarded it (the idol) by immersing it in a water body,” learn the passage, a part of the workbook’s first chapter ‘Mana Jhanda’ (our flag).
“The passage, with no known connection to the Mahabharata epic, was totally avoidable,” mentioned a Telugu trainer at a authorities main college in Siddipet. “It injects unnecessary thoughts, opinions into the children’s minds about their faith, means of worship.”
The trainer, who spoke to ThePrint on situation of anonymity, added that although he was “inconvenienced” whereas instructing the passage, there was nothing he might’ve performed as it’s “what the government wants us to teach”.
Requested for remark, Radha Reddy, director of SCERT, instructed ThePrint that the inclusion of the passage was an “inadvertent error” and instructions have been issued to withdraw it from the syllabus and that it will be expunged from publication subsequent yr. The net model of the guide has already been eliminated, she added.
“It was an inadvertent error. There are people of all faiths working with us and nobody intends to hurt anyone with school book content, especially on religious lines,” she mentioned.
Representatives of schoolteachers’ unions reportedly met Reddy to demand motion in opposition to these accountable for the inclusion of the passage. Whereas it was taught at school in June-July, in accordance with the trainer, the passage caught the general public eye solely not too long ago after a photograph of the workbook started circulating on social media and WhatsApp teams.
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‘BRS insulted, denigrated Hindus’
The Telangana BJP and the VHP have termed the inclusion of the passage for example of “BRS’s blatant hatred against Hindus and Hinduism”. The VHP has demanded quick recall of the workbooks.
“The BRS led by Chief Minister KCR subscribes to the same ideology as DMK leader Udayanidhi Stalin. They insult Hindus and Hinduism time and again,” Telangana BJP spokesperson Kishore Poreddy instructed ThePrint.
“From removing mangalsutras of women entering exam halls to injecting poison in young minds against Hindu gods and goddesses, BRS has done everything to insult and denigrate Hindus and their religious practices,” Poreddy mentioned, including that these accountable for the inclusion of the passage “need to be identified and severely punished” — to set an instance.
Ravinuthala Shashidhar, joint secretary of the VHP’s Telangana unit, alleged that the inclusion of the passage “appears intentional, to corrupt the minds of Hindu children”.
“Criminal proceedings should be initiated against the author, SCERT screening committee and the director for letting such despicable content into school books,” he instructed ThePrint, including that the VHP will proceed to boost the matter until motion is initiated in opposition to these accountable.
The BRS, in the meantime, termed the costs as politically motivated.
“KCR is a more devout Hindu than PM Narendra Modi and his acolytes. He has performed yagnas on a scale never before and has rebuilt the Yadadri temple. To blame the BRS government and KCR directly for workbook content is silliness on the part of the BJP and comes across as an attempt to score brownie points ahead of the polls,” BRS chief Dasoju Sravan instructed ThePrint.
SCERT director Reddy mentioned the passage was included within the workbook primarily based on sthala-puranam (an account offering historic significance of a Hindu place of worship) and that “only part of the original version was taken in the workbook which made it appear slanted”.
“Unfortunately, it has become an issue now,” she added.
Reddy’s clarification, nevertheless, didn’t discover many takers.
“The confidence with which the SCERT director brushes away the matter and claims no action needs to be taken on anybody reflects the support for this act from the topmost echelons of government. If the same ‘inadvertent’ mistake was crafted against any other religion, heads would have already rolled in the SCERT,” mentioned Poreddy.
“It is not a minor mistake, nor does it appear inadvertent on the part of a professional body like SCERT,” mentioned Ravinuthala. “The books should be bundled away, discarded so that such junk is not read by anyone ever.”
The content material in class books has all the time been a matter of intense debate, fuelled by cases of governments revising or deleting passages and chapters, primarily based on their political ideology, after coming to energy.
As an illustration, a suggestion final month by an NCERT panel to switch ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’ because the nation’s title in textbooks sparked a political row with opposition events terming it the BJP’s “Hindu nationalist agenda”.
The Telangana SCERT too courted the same controversy in June this yr, days after faculties reopened for the brand new educational session, when the phrases “socialist, secular” have been discovered to be lacking from a picture of the Preamble to the Structure printed on the duvet web page of Class 10 social science textbook.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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