"Crime Against Youth": BJP, Congress Clash on Karnataka Textbook Revision
NDTV
Earlier today, the BJP Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa said that school books will be revised from this year itself.
Calling it a "bizarre censoring of Indian history," Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the alleged removal of lessons on RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar from school textbooks in Karnataka would be a "crime against youth". Congress MLC BK Hari Prasad has claimed that the new Karnataka government will not approve the inclusion of chapters on Hedgewar, whom he also slammed as a "coward" and "fake freedom fighter". The BJP has also hit out at the state government, demanding an apology, saying the Congress is distorting history.Earlier today, the BJP Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa said that school books will be revised from this year itself. Old books won't be recalled, but supplementary textbooks will be sent to school with instructions on what to teach and what to be left out, he said.
Since the academic year started before he took charge, students already have the old textbooks, Mr Bangarappa said, and suggested supplementary reading to aid the transition.
The revisions are being done in the interest of the children's future, he said, adding that the Congress already committed to it in their pre-election manifesto. Madhu Bangarappa was the Vice Chairman of the manifesto committee. Without getting into details of the revision, he said a "purely technical team" would handle it.
The Congress in its poll manifesto had promised to undo the changes made to school textbooks when the BJP was in power, and had also promised to scrap National Education Policy.
