No move to drop Tipu Sultan chapter from textbooks: Education minister Nagesh

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Primary and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh refuted reports that the chapter on Tipu Sultan would be dropped from school textbooks, and said all that the department was doing was to correct mistakes and distortion of historical facts in the present textbook.

Talking to reporters here on Saturday, the minister said he would soon call a press conference to share information on what the department has been doing in this regard. Some vested interests have been spreading rumours that the government will remove the lesson on Tipu from textbooks.

Distorted history has been set right. Neglected historical facts are being added to the textbook. The must-read material for children is being added to the textbook. No attempt is being made to politicise it, he added.

Replying to a question on Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah’s suggestion to the government to allow Muslim girls to wear the dupatta instead of hijab and write the examination, Nagesh said Siddaramaiah as a former CM and an advocate should understand the necessity of respecting and following the verdict of the Karnataka High Court on the hijab.

But, out of pressure, the former CM may have urged the government to allow wearing Muslim girls to wear the hijab. As per the court’s verdict, students wearing the hijab will not be allowed to write the SSLC examination, he said.

Meanwhile, MLC Salim Ahmed urged the State government not to accept and implement the report of a committee that has recommended to the government to remove the lesson on Tipu Sultan from school textbooks.

It is learnt that the textbook committee has recommended to the department to remove lessons on Tipu Sultan, popularly known as ‘Tiger of Mysuru’. He was the first Indian king to fight against the mighty British and became a martyr. Tipu was a ruler with a vision and a true believer in religious tolerance with a commitment to develop the Mysuru kingdom.

It is unbecoming on the part of the committee to make such a recommendation to the department. This report has targeted a particular community and it must be rejected lock, stock and barrel. The government must direct the education department to junk the committee recommendation, he added.