Textbook row: Protest march in Chikkamagaluru
The Hindu
The participants marched from S.Koplu to Nidaghatta in Kadur taluk
Writers, intellectuals and activists took out a 14-km march in Chikkamagaluru district opposing the textbooks revised by the committee headed by Rohith Chakrathirtha. They marched from S.Koplu in Kadur taluk to Nidaghatta.
Panditaradhya Swamiji of Sanehalli Mutt, who inaugurated the march, took exception to the State Government for retaining the textbooks, even after admitting to the mistakes in it. “The government has accepted to correct the mistakes in the books, but refused to withdraw them. It has become a trend to insult those who point fingers at the government”, he lamented.
The protesters reached Nidaghatta via Devanur, the birthplace of Lakshmeesha, a 16 th century Kannada poet. Along the march, the participants took serious objections to the State Government for appointing a committee under Rohith Chakrathirtha to review the textbooks. The entire process of revision was undemocratic and opaque. The committee insulted Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, the architect of Indian constitution, Basavanna and others in the textbooks, they said and urged the government to continue the texts, revised by the previous committee headed by Baragur Ramachandrappa.
Ravish Basappa of Kyatanabeedu Trust, writer S.G.Siddaramaiah, educationist Sripad Bhat, B.Chandre Gowda and others participated in the march.
Around 440 MBBS graduates of 2021 are not required to undergo one year of compulsory rural service as per the bond signed by them while joining the medical course through government-quota seats in 2015 as the High Court of Karnataka has said the law, enacted in 2012 for mandatory rural service, remained unenforced for 10 years as it was published in the official gazette only in July 2022.