‘Why did Karnataka Government appoint non-academician as chairperson of textbook revision committee?’

BJP government is setting an unhealthy precedent, says former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah while claiming that the textbook agitation in Karnataka is not baseless

“The Congress is leading an agitation against the ruling BJP over saffronisation of textbooks on valid grounds. We are not making any baseless allegations,’’ Siddharamaiah, leader of the opposition, said in Belagavi on June 7.

“Education Minister B C Nagesh has accused the Congress of creating confusion in the minds of the people only to disrupt the pace of governance. They are absolutely false. The BJP government has set a very unhealthy precedent. It has twisted historical facts only for political ends. This can poison the minds of young children and damage the system of education in the long term. As a responsible opposition party, we are criticising and opposing these changes, with valid reasons,’’ he said.

“How can we keep quiet if they remove the reference to Dr. Ambedkar as the framer of the Constitution? How can we accept taking out lessons about social reformers and cultural heroes like Sri Narayan Guru, Periyar, Phule, Basavanna and Surpur Nayakas? How can we sit quiet if they remove the picture of the pioneering Jnyanapeetha awardee poet like Kuvempu, or give false introductions of such leaders? The government has dropped references to the Sufi and Bhakti movements in the country. Such injustices can not be tolerated. They have to be strongly opposed,’’ he said.

“When the Chief Minister and Education Minister claim that they are correcting historical wrongs, but they end up falsifying history, it is our duty to speak out,” he said.

“First of all, why did the government appoint a non-academician as the chairperson of the revision committee? Why did the government decide to introduce the revised textbooks even after it claimed that the committee was dissolved? How can such things be tolerated by any citizen, let alone the opposition party?”