Kannada textbook passage saying Veer Savarkar flew on bulbul raises questions on Karnataka textbook revisions

A Class 8 Kannada textbook passage saying Veer Savarkar flew on bulbul birds has raised questions about the earlier Karnataka textbook revisions.

A passage in a Kannada textbook that claims Hindu idealogue Veer Savarkar used to fly out of a locked room on the back of bulbuls has become viral.

While critics said that such a passage would confuse students, the textbook creators said that the wordings were beautified prose.

This issue has also given rise to discussions around the government's earlier decision to revise textbooks. The revision was made by the contentious Rohit Chakratheertha Committee, which stands dissolved as of now.

The passage is part of a Class 8 Kannada (second language) textbook and is taken from a chapter on VD Savarkar.

The current lesson in the textbook, which has sparked a row, is 'Kalavannu Geddavaru' written by Kannada writer KT Gatti, which replaced an earlier lesson called 'Blood Group' by Vijayamala Ranganath.

The chapter introduces VD Savarkar to students and is followed by an excerpt from a travelogue written by Gatti, in which he talks about Savarkar's time spent imprisoned in the Cellular Jail in Andaman from 1911 to 1924.

The passage in question reads: "In the room where Savarkar was jailed, there was not even a small keyhole. However, Bulbul birds used to visit the room from somewhere, on whose wings Savarkar used to sit and fly out to visit the motherland daily."